The Black Files
by Invisiblegirl3
Summary: Sirius Black and the rest of the Marauders have a secret. Matilda Bell,a devious prankster, has her heart set on becoming a marauder, but first, she must find out what the big secret is, to truly become one of them. I do not own the Harry Potter books. Post Cliched Challenge.
1. Chapter One:  The Would Be Marauder

**The Black Files**

**Chapter One:**

**The Would-Be Marauder **

"He`s coming!" Sirius whispered loudly as he ducked back into History of Magic.

"We need more time! Stall him!" Remus said from under Professor Binns` desk. He and Peter were shoveling small packages out from their backpacks, racing for time while a bead of sweat edged its way down Peter`s forehead.

"The man`s been dead for fifteen years and that hasn`t stopped him from coming to class! I won`t be able to hold him out there for more than a minute!" Sirius said as he dashed out into the hall.

Once I was sure Sirius was out of sight, I turned around in my seat. "James, drop it when he 'sits', alright?"

"Okay, and thanks... this`ll teach him to put shaving cream on me while I'm sleeping. You're a mastermind, Matilda Bell. Remind me never to get on your bad side."

"I try. Shhh! They`re coming! Rem, Pete, quick!"

The excited chatter of the class died instantly. It was as quiet as death, and I could hear Sirius` sad exempt of stalling right outside the door.

"Gregory the Ghastly was a goblin and a notorious murder, Mr. Black, not a cannibalistic gnome. You should know that from my lesson last week. Please get to your seat and stop asking about absurd things like 'House Elf Holocausts'."

"Yes sir." Sirius walked in and winked at Remus. Peter mimicked an explosion.

Binns walked over to his desk and said in his dead-sounding voice (only fitting, since he is a ghost), "Settle down, I`m going to hand back last week's tests. Unfortunately, only two of you scored an outstanding this time, and there were some people who failed miserably." Sirius, who had not yet reached his assigned seat in the second to last row, next to me, took a bow.

Tension was high as Binns slowly opened the drawer containing the tests. The hum of the drawer was calm, innocent…until it was completely blocked out by a much more exciting sound. Faster than a snitch`s wings, the room was filled with muggle firecrackers, smoke bombs, and rockets. Above us flashed the brilliant colors and lights of the fantastic explosions. Binns` desk was shaking from the muggle projectiles that shot from under it. People effortlessly transfigured the rockets and debris if they came close to harming them, a skill that all the people in our grade had learned at a young age to protect themselves from becoming Marauder's collateral damage.

As Binns took care of the fireworks, I wiped out my wand and turned to James, flicking an eyebrow towards the ceiling. With a nod, he too took out his wand and started the crucial part of our plan.

Sirius finally arrived at his seat, laughing hysterically. His long shaggy black hair that hung to his shoulders couldn`t cover that maniac grin. Finally, he plopped down in his chair.

Or, at least, what he thought was his chair. Actually, he fell right through the illusion of a chair I`d created. Once Sirius was on the floor, James dropped the real chair on his head.

"Oi!" Rubbing the bruises, Sirius looked up to James, and I saw the pieces falling together in his head. "I was wondering when you were finally going to get me back."

James smirked. "Oh, it wasn`t just me. You`ve got quite the line of people conspiring against you, Padfoot."

His gaze landed on me, and I winked. Ah, success. It never really counted until you saw the stunned look in your victim`s eyes.

"No fair. You can`t ask Mattie to help with revenge! You could`ve ask any of the other Marauders to help, or your even girlfriend. I can handle a Prongs plan! But asking Mattie is a bit harsh!" Sirius was grinning ear to ear. He stood up and sat in his real chair this time, after setting it upright, and brushed himself off a bit. Turning to me, he added, "Excellent job though. Love the little touch of deception with telling Moony, Wormtail, and I the perfect prank on Binns to distract me."

I shrugged, then teased, "Only the best for you, Black."

During the chair chaos, Professor Binns had floated out of class in search of Filch to come help him sort out all the scorch marks and debris that now coated the room. Lily was now taking charge of the room, checking to make sure people weren't hurt and that the tests –Merlin forbid- were still intact.

"I've got another idea. A mad, fantastic idea." I said, turning to James. "But you`ve got to help me."

"Yes. What does this new scheme of yours entail?"

Casting a sideways glance at the redhead currently taking charge, I asked slowly, "What are the odds of you being able to convince Lils to let us all get out of here early, preferably before Binns gets back?"

"Well, I`m not exactly a big gambling man, but I`d say they`re about to go up." Restraining a mischievous smirk, James sauntered to the front of the room, ready to charm the pants off his girlfriend (but not literally).

As soon as he was out of hearing range, I blurted, "Galleon on Potter."

"No way. That was your plan, it`s basically rigged."

"Are you trying to chicken out of a bet there, Black?"

"Fine, but I`ll only back Lily four sickles."

We shook on it in the usual way, with a handshake he`d patented in fourth year for such occasions. "Done."

Up front, James was whispering into Lily`s ear, and although she was using a mask of annoyance to cover it, I could detect the small smile creeping onto her face. If I knew my roommate, which I like to think I do after six years, she was going to crack any minute. She and James had a diamond relationship… after enough heat and pressure, the had finally stopped treating each other like lumps of coal, and finally something beautiful and strong forged between them.

After what seemed to be an eternity, Lily, no longer the perfect Prefect everyone thought she was, nodded.

"Class dismissed!" James cheered, giving his girlfriend a celebratory peck on the cheek. There was a roar of applause, and everyone surged for the door, commending the Marauders on the way.

Begrudgingly, Sirius forked over my money, and Peter came over to high-five me. "That was awesome. You should`ve been in Ravenclaw!"

"If not for the minor fact that I never bother to study and tend to dwell in the Acceptable or Poor range of things, they`d totally except me!" I said sarcastically. As we made our way down the hall, James rejoined us with Lily, shortly followed by Mary, Melody, Remus and Alice, completing our group.

"Next time you want to prank Sirius, give me a heads up so I can record it on my video camera my parents got me for my birthday!" Mary remarked cheerfully.

"Mattie wouldn`t do that to me, would you?" Sirius put his arm around me. I tried to ignore the flying feeling in my stomach.

"Maybe. Do you feel lucky?" I grinned deviously and messed up his hair.

Sirius put his hands up in defeat.

Remus shook his head at us. "Muggle technology doesn't work here anyway, so you should be safe for now."

"Oh well."

"Troll`s Blood." We split up upon reaching the common room, and I sped up a bit to catch up with Melody.

"So…Mattie. Is there something going on with you and Sirius that we should know about?" Alice asked as we ascended the stairs. Mel raised a knowing eyebrow at me. Busted.

I walked faster, hoping to deter conversation. "Black and me? Siriusly? Ha!"

Behind me, Lily muttered a spell, and my feet froze to the floor. Urg. Why did my roommates have to know me so well? There was a time when I had been able to just slip off undetected when things like this occurred, but over the years we all had come to know each other so well we were basically telepathic.

"Mats. Come on, out with it. Is there actually something going on?"

"What gave you that impression?"

"It`s like watching a watered-down Lily and James."

Lily fixed Alice with a classic McGonagall Glare (the type for those who choose to lie about homework).

"Well, not exactly, but you get the point."

"No….well… not really. It`s just one sided. Am I that obvious?"

If I was obvious, wouldn`t he have realized by now? Lily began to say something, but I beat her to it. "He's got no idea I like him, and, just my luck, I`m pretty sure he doesn`t even register me as female, for Merlin`s sake! Well actually, that`s not totally true. Ironically enough, I'm apparently all too female to him when I ask to become a Marauder. According to him, it`s a guy's only gig, and I 'don`t get what it really means'!"

"You`ve been just as good as them at schemes and stuff, if not better, for ages! What`s that supposed to mean?" Mel huffed, and like a true best friend, unstuck me from the floor (finally).

"Oh…" Lily held me back, while the others continued on into our room. "I think I know what he means. They`re not trying to be cruel, I swear."

"What is it?"

"Well… it`s not really my secret to tell, but I`m sure you can figure it out anyway. Think about the nicknames, you`ll get it."

I raised an eyebrow, accepting the challenge.

"Oh, I`ll sure try."


	2. Chapter 2: A Lie, A Lesson, And A Lead

**Chapter Two: **

**A Lie, A Lesson, And A Lead.**

"Good morning, Lily. Did you sleep well? I got you some food for you so you wouldn't miss breakfast, everyone else is already downstairs. Do you want a breakfast roll? Omelet? Toast?" I shoved a heaping tray of food in her direction.

Lilly rubbed her eyes and sat up. "I must still be dreaming. Otherwise, this would be a bribe for something, or you`re trying to make sure I don't get mad at you for something bad you`ve done." She raised an eyebrow as I pushed the tray onto her lap, and sighed. "Come on Mattie, just spill and save me the trouble. We`ve been down this road before."

Clearing anything but innocence from my face, I played the victim. "Come on, Lil. I do good stuff too! Who was your bodyguard for that month in fifth year when that Slytherin kid, Snake or something, kept trying to talk to you after he called you a mudblood? Who helped you get back at a certain Hufflepuff girl who was cruel to you, and has been at your disposal for other scheming needs?"

Suspiciously skeptical, Lily started to eat the breakfast. Finally. I waited until she was halfway through her toast before I spoke again. "What`s so special about being a Marauder? What`s the big secret?"

Lily looked up, her eyes glazed and out of focus. "Several months ago, the four of them snuck into Potions after class under James` cloak to try and get some Felix Felicis but accidentally grabbed Draught of the Living Dead instead. They all drank it before realizing the mistake, and now they have only three weeks to live. They don't want anyone to find out, because they`d all be expelled."

I turned pale. Why didn't anyone tell Dumbledore? He could probably reverse it! I had to find some sort of cure… If only I had paid more attention in potions! This had to…

I was jolted back to earth by laughter. "Gotcha! Draught of the living dead is a sleeping potion, which you should know if you didn`t spend Potions charming Mary and Alice`s hair different colors. Nice try with the veritaserum, though. Too bad I know some minor occlumency."

"Of course you do." I muttered, mad I could have overlooked the smallest but crucial detail.

Apparently, she found my expression worthy of her pity, because she softened slightly. "Okay fine, I`ll give you a hint, but like I said yesterday, it's not my secret to give away. So, what you need to do is just think about how they all uniquely act, like James` loyalty, Peter`s timidness, what Sirius` laugh sounds like, and the nicknames, _especially_ the nicknames. I know you can figure this out, Mats. You just have to show that same determination you have for quiddich, and pranking people."

"Thanks, Lily. I`ll get rid of this tainted food, now let's go get some actual breakfast."

* * *

><p>"Remus, wait up!" I called as James and I broke into a run from the doorway of our last class of the day.<p>

"Hey Mattie, Prongs. How was Defense Against the Dark Arts?"

"Alice, Mattie and I started a minor spitball war that ended up knocking off a certain professor`s wig and giving us all detentions for Friday. What`s new with you?" James casually said, but failed to mask the pride in his voice.

Remus rolled his eyes.

"That's your third detention this week. You`ve been slacking. At this rate, you`ll never regain your crown as King of the Compound." Sirius said, as he strolled up with Peter.

The sight of the quaffle James had drawn on the corner of his textbook sparked something at the back of my mind. I`d almost forgotten, which would have been catastrophic, especially if Mel found out I let an excuse to go to the kitchens slip through our fingers. Food was something she and I take very seriously (Siriusly?).

"Speaking of trouble, is anyone up for a little midnight wandering tonight? I was thinking of raiding the kitchens, since we`ll need to stock up on food if we`re gonna have a party for the big win against Slytherin this weekend. After practice last week, I bet Emma that we`re going to crush them by at least 75 points."

"Absolutely! I`ll make sure James brings the completely inconspicuous burlap sacks for carrying all the food!" Sirius grinned excitedly. But the other three gave him a pointed look as Remus nudged him in the ribs.

Peter bit his lip. "Ahh, sorry Mattie. We have to…"

"… Help tutor James so he doesn't fail the History of Magic test on dwarf wars. Padfoot and Wormtail are going to hold him down while I make him study flash cards. It could get ugly. Sirius must have forgotten it was _that time_ again."

They were obviously trying to hide something. You could always tell, because Pete doesn't lie well and the others always finish his lie so it wasn't feeble. But naturally, I acted nonchalant. Two could play at this deception game, or rather, five. "Okay. See you later then." I walked ahead to the Fat Lady.

"Trolls Blood." I brushed through the portrait hole. Once in the (thankfully vacant) common room, I crouched down behind a couch and waited for the Marauders to come in.

"I don't remember being told about studying for any test tonight!" James` whine came from outside the portrait hole.

It wasn`t long before Sirius joined in. "Yeah! Plus, couldn't you just jinx him down and let Wormy and I go with Mattie? That was a little rude to blow her off like that."

"Guys, it's a full moon tonight. Don't wig out on me now." Remus reminded them.

"Ohhhhhh, sorry, Moony…. I forgot. We won`t bail on you tonight, don't worry. About what time should we meet down here by, do you think?"

"Eleven thirty should be good."

"Hey Padfoot …" the voices faded as they ascended the stairs to their dorms.

Now, it was time to prepare. I got up from my hiding spot, and hurried up to the girl`s dorms. Come eleven thirty, I knew I was not going to be raiding the kitchens.


	3. Chapter 3: Discovery, Danger, And Disa

**Chapter Three:**

**Discovery, Danger, And Disaster**

My muggle alarm clock beeped once before I gutted out its batteries and grabbed my wand. Scanning the room, I made sure Lily, Alice, Mel, and Mary were sleeping before I crept downstairs to the common room. The fire burned dimly, only a couple embers glowing. But it was enough for me to sneak behind a couch, place a disillusion charm on myself, and wait.

After only hiding for about five minutes, I heard the shuffling of the Marauders coming down from the boy`s dorm. "Got the cloak, Prongsie?"

"Yeah. Let's wait until the common room for that, though."

The poorly lit figures of the four boys entered the room. Before I could attempt to identify who was who, three of them disappeared under what she knew was James` cloak of invisibility. Why was Remus not under the cloak, but instead walking ahead and lighting the way with his wand? He could light the way from under the cloak! All the same, this made it much easier to follow them through the portrait hole and down the changing stairs.

A corridor down from the Great Hall, Remus (and the others, invisibly) stopped in front of a large frieze. I recognized it immediately. It was a picture from a muggle fairy tale, one I had seen in a book Mel had to read once for Muggle Studies. The story was about a muggle girl who always wore a red cape-thing. The girl was bringing cookies or something to her grandmother and for some reason she travels through dark and scary woods. A wolf tries to eat her, her grandmother, and the cookies, but a lumberjack kills the wolf in the nick of time. Mel had said it was supposed to teach stranger danger, but to me the moral seemed to be, 'Don`t go into notoriously dangerous woods without protection.' I held my wand tighter.

Remus taped the figure of the wolf with his wand. A narrow portion of the old wall raised and the boys stepped through. I managed to scurry under just in time, making sure to keep a reasonable distance between myself and the Marauders, just in case they unexpectedly turned back and bumped into me or something. The passage came out to a hidden cave by the forbidden forest. Remus and the others, instead of turning into the forest as I suspected they would have, walked toward the Womping Willow.

Remus turned around. "Okay guys, the coast is clear. Wormy, can you use your special talents?"

I saw the shimmer of the invisibility cloak coming off, but seeing Sirius, James, and Pete, I stumbled back in amazement as I saw a stag, a giant black dog, and a rat. I remembered what Lily had said. The nicknames. Padfoot, Wormtail, Moony, and Prongs. A dog, a rat, a stag, and Remus. That was it! Pete, James, and Sirius were illegal amimungi. But what was Remus? Did Moony mean he was just crazy, or too spaced out to form an amimungi?

The rat (alas, Peter) ran under the wild branches of the Womping Willow. When it/he reached the trunk, he hit a knothole with his nose, and the tree froze. The Marauders then walked into a small hidden tunnel in the tree. I, of course, followed.

"It`s almost time." Remus groaned weekly. As we came to the end of the tunnel and into some house, I felt my disillusion charm wearing off. The windows of the house were boarded up from the inside, and scratch marks coated the walls. Peeking through the cracks in the boards covering the windows, I saw a darkened Hogsmeade below. This must be the shrieking shack.

Across the room, Remus shuddered. The great black dog and stag instantly came over to him, flanking either side. And then, Remus began to change.

He hunched over, glasses falling to the floor. I turned away as he let out an inhuman cry. The wails of agony continued for several minutes, and I could not bear to do anything but stand against the wall, squeezing my eyes shut tighter, and wondering if I should have just left this secret alone. When the howls finally ended, I managed to turn back, and knew instantly why he was Moony, and why they were here. Remus was a werewolf.

His teeth glittered menacingly, enhanced thusly thousand times from the gentile smile of my studious friend. Then, after taking a shuttering breath, the wolf who was no longer Remus` eyes focused right on me. The disillusion charm had broken, now that he had got my scent, no spell would really mask me now anyway. I could see his hunger, and he could see me. Remus would never hurt me, but this creature could eat me with no regret, until my friend was returned to his original form, and back to consciousness. So I did something I had never done before, unable to hold in the terror. I screamed bloody murder.

The animals that were Sirius, James, and Pete jumped; evidently, they were finally noticing me crouched against the back wall. Remus growled and leaped like a cat going in for the kill.

The great dog jumped in front of me without hesitation. The stag put its head down, its antlers were facing the werewolf like a shield, and even the rat was in a protective stance, ready to protect my stupid life with all its rodential might. I raised my wand, but had no intention of using it. Remus was still in there, and I didn`t want to hurt him, especially if he had to put up with wolfing out on a monthly basis.

Despite their efforts, the wolf was already one step ahead, having not been shocked by my scream. It grabbed my left arm in its giant maw, teeth clamping onto my sleeve, and dragged me away from the amimungi protectors. In that jolting motion, my wand was flung free from my hand, tumbling uselessly to the floor. The stag held off Remus until he let go of my arm, leaving it bloody and throbbing, but not devoured. My sleeve was somehow still whole, but blood was gushing through it, soaking my cloak.

Collapsing to the ground as my legs gave out, I fought to stay conscious, not going to be defeated by the sight of my own blood. Something yanked on the back of my cloak, and I was pulled backwards out of the Shrieking Shack.

I shakily took as we emerged out of the tunnel and into the night. The dog kept dragging me, down the hill and towards the school. By the time we got to the front gates, I was only just keeping my eyes open, and the black blobs in my vision merged with the night sky above. The only things assuring me I was still partially conscious were the tiny stars flickering in and out of sight. It was like I was trapped in the night within myself, hearing only the vague sounds of rustling gravel as my body was pulled onward, with the occasional flicker of moonlight Hogwarts. Sight came in minuscule flashes, but I was unable to move, as if my consciousness was trapped inside a useless corpse.

Through the void, I heard the voice of a once-again human Sirius.

"Mattie? Can you hear me? I'm sorry. Please don't tell."

I`m pretty sure I was hallucinating at that point from loss of blood, but I could have sworn Sirius knelt down and kissed me softly on the cheek before standing up, knocking loudly on the door, and running off in his amimungi form.

The last thing I saw before the darkness devoured me fully was Nearly-Headless Nick gliding through the door.


	4. Chapter 4: St Mungo's

**A/N Thanks to everyone who commented, and for Louey06, for her excellent question (everyone was phased, but there was no time to waste with shock in the life-or-death situation).**

**And now, without further ado, back to the story.**

**Chapter Four:**

**St. Mungo's**

_Machines beeped. Healers whispered. A young boy watched worried from the next bed over. Three young men watched from outside the door, fear in their eyes._

_When a healer opened the door, the young men swarmed him with questions. _

"_How is she?"_

"_Dumbledore said …. The last healer said she thought it looked like a werewolf bite. Are there werewolves at Hogwarts? Is she a…werewolf now?"_

"_What`s wrong with our sister?"_

_The healer rubbed his forehead. "Your sister has a large, possibly of werewolf origin, bite on her left arm. We are unsure of if it has affected her yet. It may not be a werewolf bite, because she shows no signs of any wolfish qualities as of yet. When they found her, the sleeve was still mostly intact, so it is possible the wolf saliva did not have contact with her blood. Right now she is in a delicate coma-like state, and it is uncertain when or if she will be waking up."_

_The brother in the middle started to cry._

_Early the next morning, the room was quiet. The Asian girl slept on, bleeding all the while,_ her little roommate occasionally glancing over for any odd signs of change between sleep cycles. _ An old man with a long silvery beard entered the room accompanied by four teenage boys, and one crying redheaded girl. One of them, the one with glasses and usually tidy hair and appearance (but not this morning), looked immensely sorrowful and guilty._

"_Will she be all right, Professor? She`ll wake up, right?" the melancholy boy with shaggy black hair said._

"_Her current state is still being determined, but she will most likely survive."_

_The redhead tried to regain composure, placing fresh flowers on the table, but there was no hiding the tear-stained spot she`d left on the shirt of the boy with untidy black hair. He didn`t seem to mind. He was too busy watching his shaggy-haired friend, who had remorsefully glazed eyes. None of them could bear to look very long at the sleeping girl in the hospital bed who was pale as death itself._

_When the others began to leave, the shaggy boy was the last to go, staying a moment longer while quietly holding back tears. He spoke softly as he placed the girl`s wand on the table next to her._

"_Come on, Mattie. Wake up. You can do it. Please don't die. You can`t die." Sirius took one last look at the lifeless, bleeding, dark-haired girl and walked away, tears brimming in his eyes. Sirius never cried. Not even when he ran away from home and went to live with James. But his tears hit the ground as he opened the door and left._

I woke up surrounded by sterile white walls and shiny equipment, my wand on the small nightstand next to me among some flowers. I was alone in the room besides a lump in the bed next to mine (a person?). The room looked nothing like the semi-friendly work place of Madam Pomfrey. Why was I here?

Oh, Right. The guys are amimungi. Remus is a werewolf. Rem… bit me. Oh my gosh. Am I a werewolf?!

I needed answers. Fast. Or I was going to freak. Actually, it was a bit too late for that. "Hello? Is there anyone who can hear me? Hello!"

The lump moved. It sat up, and was revealed to be a little boy, about ten years old. "Are you okay? Why are you yelling? What`s wrong?" His eyes were wide with terror and confusion, and I realized I must look like a crazed, ragged ghost, trailing wires as I sat up. Also, the jolt of movement sparked a wave of worse agony from my mummy of an appendage.

"Sorry, I didn`t mean to scare you, but do you know where we are?"

"We are on the first floor of St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. I`ve been here for three days now. You got here yesterday night. I was kinda wondering if you were alive or not, `cause you`ve been laying motionless for a long time. What happened to your arm, is it really…?"

I shifted uncomfortably, trying my best to keep the kid`s question, and the searing pain in my arm, from getting me to crack. "Huh. Last night?" If felt like she`d been sleeping for ages. "What`s your name anyway? Mine`s Matilda, but unless you`re the ghost of my mum, you can call me Mattie."

"I`m Ricky, regrettably not a ghost or your mum. My older brother sent home an enchanted textbook from school about monsters that bit me, and my mom freaked out and sent me here just in case. The only reason I`m still here is that she convinced the healers the book was not enchanted, but alive. So they`ve been testing for all sorts of muggle and wizard diseases, curses and stuff, but they told me I can go home tonight."

Attempting to sit up again, I brushed back the black bedhead mane out of my face. "You're going home tonight? Well, great news. So am I."

"Really? You just woke up, you can`t know that."

"Oh, I think I can…" I winked. "I`m going back to school, because I'm awake, and I feel fine. My arm can heal at school, and I`ve got a quiddich match coming up that I am not going to miss because a little bit of excess liquid won`t stop gushing out of my arm."

Ricky `s eyes widened. "I heard you got bit by a creature in the forbidden forest! One of the healers said it looked like a werewolf bite!"

"That`s ridiculous. I was trying to find a kneazle in the forest for Care Of Magical Creatures extra credit…"

"Is a kneazle like a niffer?"

I couldn`t help but recoil in abhorrence. "Ugh, no. Niffers are crazed hedgehogs, to the point of almost bloodthirstiness. Kneazles are like cats, sort of. Anyway, I heard something behind me, and accidently jinxed a fox in self-defense, which provoked it into biting me...Speaking of, is there any way I could talk to the healers? I feel fine."

Ricky bit his lip thoughtfully, which seemed startlingly familiar…Almost like something Lily once described to that I get when I'm planning. Right before the strike of brilliance. "Well, the quickest way to get healers to respond and get in here is…" He grinned evilly. This kid was really beginning to remind me of myself. "…Dying."

"So I just stop my heart." I got what he meant now. The kid is a genius.

I pulled off the little wires recording my heartbeats. Good `ol muggle technology.

Two healers rushed into the room. "Is she…oh, you`re awake!"

I sat attentively and attempted to look as healthy and normal as humanly possible, ignoring the jarring sting and profuse bleeding I had inhibited with motion. "Can I go back to school now? I feel fine. Plus, my arm can heal at school. Madam Pomfrey can handle it, she`s good with that sort of thing."

They looked hesitantly at each other. "Your arm _is _healing faster than we`d originally thought it would, considering it`s a cursed wound and all. Are you sure you feel up to it?" I nodded, hoping they wouldn`t remember I`d only just regained consciousness. "Hmm, I suppose so, since Poppy has treated worse successfully. What do you think, Amos?"

The shorter, stouter healer thought for a moment before replying "Well, I`ll contact Dumbledore, but it should be alright…"

I leaped out of bed, in part to prove my health and also in part to wake myself up. "Thank you! Thanks so much!" turning to Ricky, beaming, I saw he was regarding this with a delighted curiosity. "We`ll both get out tonight! I`ll send you an owl when I get to school, I promise!"

Ricky jumped up too. "You will? Really? My brothers never send me anything, no letters or even cards at Christmas…besides cursed textbooks, that is. I`m going to Hogwarts next year, my birthday`s in May. My brother Fabian` s in Ravenclaw and Aiden is in Hufflepuff, but personally I feel like more of a Gryffindor! My little brother is seven, but I think he takes after Fabian more than anyone else; it might be too soon to tell, though. "

Grinning, I couldn`t help but wish I could trade one of my brothers for this kid. "I should have known you were a lion. Gryffindor`s are the best, I would know, after six years of first-hand experience. My three brothers were in it too, but they graduated a bunch of years back. I think I know Fabian… he`s a sixth year, right? Fabian Macmillan?"

Ricky smiled ear to ear. "That's him!"

"He wasn't the textbook sender, right? I could beat him up for you, if it was."

"Nah, it was Aiden, and he probably already got an earful of a howler from my mum. Thanks for the offer."

The healers began to insist we quiet down, lecturing us about disturbing the peace while guiding us back to the beds.

* * *

><p>Several hours later, after Ricky and I had parted on the promise of writing each other soon, I was stepping out of the fireplace in Dumbledore`s office.<p>

"Thanks for getting me back, Professor, I really appreciate it. I have to go catch up on my homework now, so…"

The Professor`s eyes twinkled. "I`m sure Miss Melody Williamson and the others can wait a bit longer before you surprise her. I need to talk to you about something first. What happened the night of your accent?"

I am NOT giving away Remus` secret. He`s my friend. But I also couldn`t feed him the bogus line about extra credit, since he would see through that in an instant. "I snuck into the forbidden forest on a dare, and I thought I heard one of my friends following me. So I sort of zapped in the general direction, and it turned out to be a fox, which bit me. I managed drag myself up to the castle and knock on the door before I passed out from loss of blood."

Dumbledore chuckled. "How loyal of you to stand by your friend Mr. Lupin, even after he bit you."

Before I could protest or lie more, he cut me off. "Miss Bell, I know about Mr. Lupin`s lycanthropy, and I am aware about the conditions under which you were bitten. And I am sure you are probably wondering if you have become a werewolf too."

I stood staring at him, amazed. Wow, he`s good.

"The test results came in this morning. You`re completely lycanthropy-free."

"But… how? He bit me."

"True. But you were wearing a long-sleeved cloak. Remus` teeth pierced skin, but the saliva never touched you, or had the chance to mix with your blood, since it had not yet soaked through your cloak. Had your cloak ripped, you would almost certainly be a werewolf, but luckily for you, you had a very sturdy sleeve. Madam Manlkin used very good fabric."

"Thank you, Professor Dumbledore. I`m sorry for going out of the castle at night without permission." I chose my words carefully, not revealing any crimes he might not be aware of.

"Your very welcome, Matilda, but I`m afraid I must deduct fifty points from your house nonetheless. You may go now. I expect all of your classmates have returned from their last classes by now."

I beamed and walked briskly out of his office, before he could possibly worsen my sentence further. Breaking out in a run halfway to the Fat Lady, I could hardly contain the rebellious excitement from bubbling up in my voice when I finally reached the portrait. "Troll`s blood!"

After giving me an inquiring look, the Fat Lady decided it was better not to ask where I had been, and opened with only an elevated eyebrow.

The common room was a quiet roar of discussion, crammed full of almost all Gryffindors in the school. Lily, Alice, Mary, and Melody had snagged some seats by the fire, and were playing Exploding Snap with the Marauders. I discreetly shut the portrait behind me, but just as I was about to plot my triumphant return, a loud explosion erupted from over by my friends, where Peter had accidently set Mary`s skirt on fire. Lily managed to get the flames out quick enough, but not before I let out a shout of fear, and James met my eyes across the room. I saw his mouth move, unable to make out the words, and then watched as one by one, my friends all turned around, the Marauders and Lily going silent and slack jawed. As I crossed the crowd to join them, my roommates, James, and Pete beamed madly with apparent mirth and surprise, while Remus and Sirius, equally amazed, and drew back with wide eyes as if I was an illusion.

It wasn`t the entrance I would have chosen, but it would have to do.

Putting a hand on my hip, I felt a sly grin creeping across my face as I asked, "So, did anybody miss me?"


	5. Chapter 5: Misunderstandings

**Hello everyone. Louey06, ever the anchor to reality, has many questions about the long-sleeved cloak aspect of the story. I`ve created a poll on my profile where you can vote for me to write an alternate chapter three where I explain the alternative.  
>(Edit: Results are in- there will be an alternate chapter three coming to you soon)<strong>

**Disclaimer: I own only the things mentioned here that are not in the Harry Potter books. The rest is J.K. Rowling`s**

**Chapter Five:**

**Misunderstandings**

"I was seriously freaking out when I woke up and you were missing, since you never get up before breakfast, let alone first, unless you`ve been out scheming all night. So initially I was a bit insulted you hadn`t invited me along, but then I saw Mel was still here, and that was a bit strange, because you always get Mel in on that sort of thing. When you didn`t come to breakfast or any of our first three classes, Mel and I skipped Herbology to check the school for you, but nobody`d seen you all day. Finally, we all went to Dumbledore, and he said you were in St. Mungo's in a coma or something! We almost started a riot when he said we couldn`t visit you, until he let Lil come with him."

Mary took a break from her recounting of the previous days over our morning pumpkin juice and shoveled another waffle in her mouth. Her blonde hair reminded me of Ricky`s mop of bedhead. Ricky… I should send him a letter to let him know I got back alright.

"Hey, do you know who the Macmillan boys are? One`s in our year, Ravenclaw, and there`s a younger Hufflepuff too. Their little brother shared a room with me at St. Mungo`s."

"The Hufflepuff`s named Adrian, right?"

"Aiden."

"Is that the blond mouse-faced one?" Alice wondered aloud.

"No, no _that`s_ Benny Thompson."

"Benny`s got big ears, not a mouse-face."

As Alice and Mary began to argue whether or not Aiden Macmillan was the blond mouse kid or the one with glasses, Lily muttered discreetly, "I need to speak to you. Can we go talk in the hall?"

"Yeah, sure. Mel, watch my hash browns for me, and if Sirius so much as blinks in their direction, don`t be afraid to hex him."

Mel nodded militarily, and I tried to push the golden potatoes goodness out of my mind and focus on Lily`s crinkled forehead as she led me out into the hall.

"What`s up?"

"What really happened that night? I know there`s no rabid foxes in the forest."

I hesitated. She already knew the truth about Remus, so there was no danger in telling her the real story…"After what you said, I decided to follow them. I know about Remus being a werewolf, and how the others are illegal amimungi. But when I was trying to get out of there -after he changed, that is- my disillusion charm wore off, and Remus saw me."

"Yeah, James told me what happened. He says Rem feels terrible about biting you, it took me and the guys to keep him from dropping out on the spot yesterday morning, and he`s still freaked out about getting expelled. And Sirius was devastatingly guilty about the whole thing too, practically as bad as Remus, claimed it was his fault you`d followed them all because he wouldn't tell you about them being amimungi."

"Oh no... Remus shouldn't leave school! I`ll go over and talk to them. It`s my fault anyway." I ducked back in the Great Hall and headed to the end of the Gryffindor table, where the Marauders had chosen to sit for some strange reason. Plopping down between Pete and James, I was greeted with an unexpected amount of staring. This was not the problem after the initial few seconds, when all but James avoided my eyes, choosing to look deep into their food or the table instead.

"Hi, guys! What`s up?"

A fork fell, which Remus used as an excuse to duck under the table, and as he picked it up, I noticed his hands were shaking. Eventually, in a low voice, James asked, "What do you want, Mattie?"

I didn`t dare sit down, not with the bad vibes they were sending my way like dungbomb fumes. When James spoke again, in a tone I`d never heard from him before, and with his defensive, untrusting shoulders far from their normal lax, I could see him as the stag quite clearly, antlers at the ready.

"Have you come to declare our explosion? Because if you`re going to take one of us down, we`re all going with him."

So that`s what all the whispered tension was about. Idiots. Did they honestly think I would blame Remus?

"Come on, is that what you`re all off about? Nobody`s going to get any of you expelled, and Merlin knows I don`t blame you for what happened. I really shouldn`t have followed you guys, that was extremely stupid and intrusive of me, and I totally deserved what happened. I`m incredibly sorry, Remus, I shouldn`t have put you in that situation."

Remus` eyes flicked upwards from his eggs benedict, and softened his gaze upon meeting mine. I wanted to hug him or something, but the other three were still a bit hesitant to back down from their protective barrier. The farthest Marauder from me, Peter, was the first to crack his poker face. "So you won't turn us in either?"

"Of course I won't!" Sirius was the last to look up, and he was the only one not smiling. "I didn`t even tell Dumbledore what really happened. The Ministry of Magic is under the impression there`s some sort of spiteful fox roaming the forest. Anyway, if that`s all, I have some letters to mail, so…"

Before I could leave the Great Hall, though, Sirius caught up with me, grabbing my arm to get my attention. The look on his face after he`d kissed me flashed through my mind, and I figured he must not want me to spread any of that around, to ruin his reputation as someone who dates untouchables and the Hogwarts elite, not some tomboy with a huge curiosity complex. "Mattie, I…" I had to cut this off before it got more emotional, to save him the trouble of telling me no directly.

"Black, it`s okay, I understand. I`m over it, don`t worry. We can just act like it never happened. Hey, I guess I'll see you later for whatever pre-game madness Potter`s got in mind. We are soo going to win against Slytherin tomorrow!" I flashed him a (forced) smile and did not look back until I was halfway to the owlery, my chest feeling as if it were being subjected to a muggle trash compactor.

* * *

><p>Sirius absolutely could not believe this. Forget about their kiss, act like it never happened! Sirius was the one who told birds to move on, not the other way around. Merlin`s beard, girls are more confusing than he`d originally thought. Was he losing his touch? Did she actually just <em>forgive<em> him for kissing her? And she`s walking away, not a care in the world, as if he wasn`t the most lusted after guy in Hogwarts.

"The most vain, too." Moony added to Sirius` (not so) inner monologue, making him realized he`d been muttering under his breath, like a common Crazy Potter.

"It`s okay Padfoot, we understand. I was dissed by Lily for years before she ever realized she loved me."

"It's not okay. Birds are practically tripping over each other to get a chance with me, so what`s wrong with this…." He gestured to the direction Mattie had disappeared into. "…girl to make her immune to me? Even Lily –no offense, Prongs- had a little thing for me for a while when I won that little contest of ours, so it can`t be that overexposure has made her insusceptible to my charms. So what in Merlin`s name am I doing wrong?"

"You`re Sirius Orion Black, Marauder, Gryffindor, beater, occasional seer, serial dater, and overall self-centered prick. There`s a lot of things you`re doing wrong." Remus commented. "In this case, you should probably just move on. She`s just another girl, and, as you of all people should know since you are the aforementioned serial dater, Hogwarts is full of them."

Peter shrugged in agreement, but for some reason Sirius just couldn't accept that resolution. As he caught himself running an agitated hand through his hair, he realized he might be more like James than he though. Which was not acceptable. Sirius Black may sometimes pine, but he always had a plan, and always got the girl.

"Anyone got any bright ideas besides that, because where`s the fun in giving up?" Sirius resumed his usual lax position, just with a bit more purpose in the aggressively poor posture. "I`m talking strategy here, mates."

Flicking a bit of toast at Remus, Peter proposed, "Maybe she`s still not quite right in the head from when Moony bit her. I mean, there is probably quite an adjustment to becoming a werewolf and all that`s clouding her judgment about current Padfoot affairs."

"Brilliant! That must be it!" Sirius brightened, glad for any excuse, especially such a plausible and well thought out one such as Wormtail`s. James and Remus exchanged a dubious glance. **(A/N Clarification: the Marauders think Mattie is a werewolf because Mattie didn`t tell them about the sleeve thing when she came back, figuring they already knew, but the girls, as previously shown, know the truth.)**

"I suppose it`s possible. Hey, maybe Mattie`s your…well, your Lily."

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "Nah, a Lily sounds like too much trouble. I`m not really the settling down kind of guy, and Merlin knows if she`s even interested in me now, let alone any amount of days or weeks from now. Not everyone`s destined to end up like you, Prongs, in a monogamously complicated relationship with a bird you`ve tormented since you were eleven, and yet will one day be married and blissfully living out the rest of your days in the mansion of your choice."

Shrugging, James suppressed a grin by loading more eggs into his mouth.

"So anyway, what am I supposed to do? She just acted as if our kiss was a mistake, apologizing and everything."

"I don't know, make her jealous or something." Moony suggested, choosing to go back to reading his Herbology notes than to pursue the matter further.

"Mattie gets mad easily." Wormtail warned Sirius, who, instead of taking the statement of caution as what it was, only heard encouragement in those words.

"Okay then. Jealousy it is!"

James knew the girl in question would not approve of this diluted plot, even if she had not been the subject of its mania. "What if she actually doesn`t like him?"

"She`ll REALIZE she does." Peter said, ever the voice of undisputed wisdom and knowledge. Sirius, though knowing this, was too caught up in the chase to care.

* * *

><p>I managed to slide into the seat next to Lily just as Professor McGonagall walked into class. Brushing the feathers from my hair, I whispered, "At least one good thing came from this mess."<p>

"What`s that?"

"Sirius kissed me after he brought me back up to the castle."

"He likes you! Merlin, good thing I sided with Mel on that one. Can I tell Alice so she`ll pay up? I`ll give you a cut of the profit, but it`s only in bubble gum."

Smugly, I retorted, "Who`s got a gambling addiction now?"

McGonagall, who had stopped giving her instructions long enough for most of the class to turn and stare, gave us her death ray glare. "Five points from Gryffindor, Ms. Bell, unless you`d like to share what I can only assume was an education remark with the class. I dearly hope you will be more focused during tomorrow`s match."

Nodding, I refrained from replying with any excuse the professor wouldn`t really buy. Lily winked at me as McGonagall went back to teaching. "Still you."


	6. Chapter 6: A Win, A Loss, And Something

**Chapter 6:**

**A Win, A Loss, And Something In Between**

I stood among my teammates, ready to mount my broom. James was giving the usual pep talk as he paced in front of us, talking about sportsmanship, winning, speed, agility, endurance, blah blah blah. He`s one of my best friends and all, but when James gets going with the Quiddich pep talks, I really can`t help but tune him out. Apparently, neither could the rest of my teammates, because looking around at the other members of the team, they were all pretty much trying not to fall asleep. Ourstarting keeper, Josh Robins, was gazing off into space with his arm around his girlfriend, inside chaser Linda Perkins. Josh`s brother, Bradley, was nervously fiddling with his broom. Initially Bradley had tried out for seeker despite his inability to catch a snitch, and apparently James had seen such promise in him as a chaser that he gave the kid his starting position, and became the new seeker himself. It had been a controversial move at the time, but paid off in the end; Gryffindor was top of the league so far this season. As it turned out, James wasn`t a bad seeker.

Behind some of the reserves, who were only geared up because of the high tendency of our starters to get hurt, Sirius had his bat hung on a lazy shoulder, and our other beater, Vanessa Peters, was the only person actually paying attention.

Sirius hadn't said much of anything to me after breakfast yesterday. Alice said it didn't mean anything, and that Frank sometimes didn't see her for a few days due to the fact that there was loads of homework and they didn't share many classes. It was true that the Marauders had been busy planning a 'welcome back Mattie' fireworks show after the game today. Lately, the guys had been obsessed with muggle items of mass destruction to the extent that I almost regretted ever telling them about it. Good thing they didn't know about dynamite.

"Let's win this thing!" James yelled, finishing his speech.

We cheered and ran on to the pitch. The roar of the stadium hit us full blast as soon as Vanessa opened the locker room doors, and as everyone (save the reserves) started kicking off, I felt a gloved hand stop me before I could follow suit. I flinched at the pressure on the still bandaged arm.

"Are you sure you`re okay to play?" James commented, pointedly looking at the bandage plastered on my forearm. "I know as a captain that the team needs you, but if this impacts the rest of the season, a little break might be worth it. Also, as a friend, I don`t want you to push this thing too far to the point of reinjuring yourself. Cursed wounds are serious."

I restrained myself from making a Sirius pun, since that would most likely be unconvincing. "If I took time off, people would start to wonder what kind of fox bite isn`t an easy heal. Besides, I`m fine."

To punctuate my point, I kicked off into the air and flew up to where the others were already circling. Merlin, I loved flying. The Gryffindors whooped and yelled as we circled into our positions, James having flown up right after me. Then the Slytherins came out, thirsty for a win after the last match when they`d barely beaten Hufflepuff.

"Welcome, Hogwartians, to the semi-final Quidditch match, Slytherin verses the totally awesome Gryffindor! Whoever wins this match will play against Ravenclaw for the cup. So get your cowbells ready folks, because the match is about to begin!" I smiled, shook my head, and stifled a laugh as Melody began announcing. How McGonagall still let her keep the job after she called the Slytherin team captain 'Lying, cheating, scum of the Earth' on the commentary for the last match was beyond me.

"And here`s the tip off!" My brain went into autopilot as the game began.

"Perkins gains possession, passes up to Robins, look at him go! Robin, boy wonder is soaring up the pitch, past them all, and … Oh, that`s gotta hurt, right in the back. Rockler and Martin passing up the field, excellent steal by Bell, that girl`s not afraid of anything! She just got out of St. M… nice pass to Perkins, SCORE!"

Taking a deep breath, I high-fived Linda and focused on the quaffle, not the jarring throbbing in my arm.

"It`s already Ten-nothing, Gryffindor. They`re really kicking butt today! Oh no, that twat Stanford's got the quaffle, block it Robins! Peters hits Stanford with a bludger, excellent work Vanessa! That girl`s got fire, and a little bird told me she`s got some grief to take out on Martin especially."

Also incredibly biased, Mel was notoriously the most controversial quiddich announcer in the history of Hogwarts. She was also the most fascinating, bringing in twice the crowd in her first year alone.

"Oh, nice try Robins. Too bad. Burton scores for Slytherin."

Forty minutes later, James caught the snitch and we won, 250 to 80. Hufflepuff Emma Riley owed me five galleons, and the adrenaline rush was probably going to wear off soon and let me feel the full impact of what I`d just done to my arm. But all that was yet to come, and when I left the locker room, sure enough, fireworks were going off, and the Gryffindor tower was alight and wild. The party wasn't in full swing, but it would be soon.

After locking my own broom away, I began to consider what the night may hold. If I hadn`t been hallucinating Monday night, and Sirius had kissed me, maybe he was already waiting upstairs for a more conscious part two. It was one of those nights that felt full of possibilities.

Starting back up to the tower, I wondered how much food the guys had managed to smuggle up without me. Well, they probably had Mel or Frank help them. Bradley`s broom had been the only one still outside the locker room, so everyone else must have beat me up there already.

When I reached the Fat Lady, she wasn't alone. Next to the portrait, Vanessa was intertwined with some guy. It seemed a bit early for that, but even though she was a year younger than me, Ness had always been the type to seize the moment, and no matter how inconvenient her seizing may be for bystanders. Besides, as Mel had tactfully mentioned in the match, she had just gotten over a bad breakup with cheater, so she deserved this. I tried to get around the kissing couple and into the common room, but then they turned at an angle where I could get a good look at who exactly Vanessa had chosen to, well, seize (or maybe, I wondered as my stomach pitched, he had seized her). Sirius gave me a look over Vanessa`s shoulder, a look that was the occupied equivalent to a smug grin.

I turned and ran down the stairs. Before I`d even gotten a flight down, I collided with Bradley, almost sending us tumbling, if he hadn't caught me. The kid gave me a bizarre, questioning look, and then the two behind me caught his eye. The poor kid paled, and I felt bad for him, who had a little not-so-subtle crush on Vanessa, and I knew he`d got his hopes up a bit since her break up. I tried to take off again, but small as he was, he held me back, "Don't let them ruin the night for you, Mats. It's okay. Will you come back up and go to the party eventually if I let you go?"

He was a good friend, and we`d gotten close since I`d taken him under my wing when he joined the team, so he was practically my fourth brother. I felt bad for lying to him as I nodded yes, but he`d probably get over the whole Nessa thing when he got hailed as a hero inside the common room. I had no intention of returning any time soon, or going to the party if I did. He let go, and I sprinted away.

My first instinct, as I was running, was to think up some form of revenge. After all, that's what I usually did if anyone I knew was in my situation. But Vanessa was my teammate, and not a bad girl, and although Sirius was a prat, he was just being his usual self. It would be really petty and mean of me to ruin it for Vanessa just because I really liked Sirius, although he clearly didn't like me. I _was _probably hallucinating then, that night I thought he kissed me. Wishful thinking, I suppose. It had been so convincing, too.

Defeated, I slumped against the nearest wall. Ugh, I was not going to die here in a puddle of self-pity. That`s just pathetic. Wait, where was I? The paintings on the wall didn't look very familiar. To my left was a tall spiral staircase, with an archaic air of mystery. I`ve been all over the school, but I'd never seen this staircase before. Well, it wasn`t like I had anything better to do now, and I could use a distraction...

So, yeah, I went up the mysterious, winding, tall, somewhat creepy, possibly unstable, ominous, stairs. No big deal. Not.

After climbing for what seemed like forever, I finally reached what appeared to be the top. The landing held no portraits, or pictures, or gargoyles, or windows. There was just a lone door, bookended by torches, with a weird bronze knocker with an eagle on it. Well, it was worth a shot to knock.

I banged the knocker. The eagle suddenly came to life, shocking me into almost tumbling back down all those steps. Its creepy bronze eyes stared at me, unblinking (well, probably because it had no eyelids, but still), and said "Give me food, and I will live; give me water, and I will die. What am I?"

Okay. Um, well, maybe this was some sort of test. As long as it didn't actually ask stuff you would learn in History of Magic, Divination, Herbology, or other boring classes, I was fine.

A muggle impression of a witch? Nah, too confusing. It had to be more straightforward than that.

"Fire?" I said hesitantly, really hoping I wasn't wrong.

"Well put." Freaky Eagle said.

The door swung open, revealing a large, circular room with a curiously midnight blue carpet. The ceiling was decorated with stars, and the arched windows held silver and blue banners. Chairs, bookcases, coffee tables, and sofas were scattered throughout the room, and there were students milling about everywhere, all at ease in this strange place. I instantly knew where I was, and my stomach knotted as I looked at the statue by the twin stairs that led up and out of the room. I had seen it once before in a picture, and I knew I was never meant to see it in person.

"Who are you?" a voice called out. I couldn't pinpoint which Ravenclaw it came from, but whoever it was led the entirety of the Ravenclaw population to turn and glare at the intruder. Me.

"Hey, she`s Matilda Bell, you know, the right chaser for Gryffindor."

"How`d she know where our common room was?!"

I was frozen for a moment, shocked I`d found the Ravenclaw common room. They`d always had hinted it was well hidden… well, apparently they weren't as clever as they thought.

More people were now yelling at me, demanding all sorts of things from a memory charm to expulsion. I went through options in my head, but I could only come up with one good one. So, turning on my heel, I set off running once again.

There was a bombardment of footsteps and voices behind me, but I kept going, finally thankful for all those sprints and trail runs James had insisted we continue to do even though it was winter, and Quiddich was played on brooms, not on foot. Also, I helped that as I ran, I jinxed the suits of armor to guard the path behind me.

Somewhere between the charms corridor and the Library, I gave out, choosing instead to duck into an abandoned classroom and rest. My arm had resumed throbbing, and I was so focused on that I didn't even hear anyone approach until they said, "So what were you doing in our common room anyway? Shouldn't you be partying like the other Gryffindors probably are?"

I looked up. It was Fabian MacMillan, Ricky`s older brother. I`d never officially met him before.

"I was helping my friend look for her fleas from her flea circus. She lost them because she dropped the box. I was actually trying to find the Slytherin common room to kidnap some of them to replace the old fleas." Fabian laughed. "Anyway, sorry I burst into your common room like that. I really wasn't trying to find it or intrude or anything."

Fabian smiled. "That`s alright, as long as you don't tell anyone were it is. Otherwise we might have to wipe your memory. That`d be a shame."

"Really? How so?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Because you wouldn't remember me asking you, since I know you got a 'P' on that last History of Magic test and you missed some of those classes this week, if you would like me to help tutor you."

Crossing my arms, I pressed, "Well, what`d you get on that test?"

He smirked. "An 'E'."

"Fine. Monday?"

"Would you oblivate me if I said no?"

Fabian held up his wand.

"Alright. See you then." This was one long, eventful night. I decided it was about time to get back to the common room.

When I got to the Fat Lady, Vanessa and Sirius had disappeared off to, eh, I don't even want to think about it, so I was actually able to get into the common room. The party was slowing down, and only a few people still lingered. Apparently the Marauders had gotten tons of food from the kitchens while I was away in St. Mungo's , because there was still some left on the table, quite a feat for this late in the party. Alice was playing some version of beer pong that involved what was most likely butterbeer (but who knew, really, since no prefects were around to enforce anything) with Linda, Josh, Emmeline, and a couple guys over by the fire, with Marlene and a few others looking on and placing bets. Alice gave me a questioning look, probably wondering why I had been absent and was passing our usual scene by, and I gave her a half smile before heading up the stairs to our dorm.

Mary and Melody were already sleeping, shockingly enough (or at least trying/pretending to be), and Lily was reading through her Potions notes. "Where were you? You missed the whole party!" whispered Lily when I climbed into my bed.

"Really long story. Were you studying the whole time?" I said, trying to keep my voice from being brittle, or loud enough to bother the other two.

"Maybe… But I`ve only really doing homework for half an hour at least."

"Forty-five minutes. And she STILL won`t turn the bloody light off." muttered Melody from her bed.

Out of pity, I tossed a caldron cake I`d nicked from the table downstairs on her bed. "Why are you two up her so early?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Those gits fancied themselves a butterbeer drinking contest, who could down the most in a minute that is, and got sick."

"Anyway, thanks to Lils, we`re up, so why don't you tell us that long story?" Mary said.

"Fine."

So I recounted everything that had happened from when I left the Quiddich pitch to my running aimlessly away from Sirius and Vanessa, but as promised, left out finding the Ravenclaw common room. Right before I forced Lily to finally put out the light, I wrote another letter to Ricky.


	7. The Alternate Chapter 3

**Okay. You voted for it, and here it is. The answer to the question "What would have happened if Remus had actually bitten the skin on Mattie`s arm (as opposed to the sleeve)?". It`s similar to the real chapter three in the beginning, but it changes at the climax. Enjoy.**

**(The Alternate)**

**Chapter Three:**

**Moony, Mistakes, and Misery **

My muggle alarm clock beeped once before I gutted out its batteries and grabbed my wand. Scanning the room, I made sure Lily, Alice, Mel, and Mary were sleeping before I crept downstairs to the common room. The fire burned dimly, only a couple embers glowing. But it was enough for me to sneak behind a couch, place a disillusion charm on myself, roll up my sleeves, and wait.

After only hiding for about five minutes, I heard the shuffling of the Marauders coming down from the boy`s dorm. "Got the cloak, Prongsie?"

"Yeah. Let's wait until the common room for that, though."

The poorly lit figures of the four boys entered the room. Before I could attempt to identify who was who, three of them disappeared under what she knew was James` cloak of invisibility. Why was Remus not under the cloak, but instead walking ahead and lighting the way with his wand? He could light the way from under the cloak! All the same, this made it much easier to follow them through the portrait hole and down the changing stairs.

A corridor down from the Great Hall, Remus (and the others, invisibly) stopped in front of a large frieze. I recognized it immediately. It was a picture from a muggle fairy tale, one I had seen in a book Mel had to read once for Muggle Studies. The story was about a muggle girl who always wore a red cape-thing. The girl was bringing cookies or something to her grandmother and for some reason she travels through dark and scary woods. A wolf tries to eat her, her grandmother, and the cookies, but a lumberjack kills the wolf in the nick of time. Mel had said it was supposed to teach stranger danger, but to me the moral seemed to be, 'Don`t go into notoriously dangerous woods without protection.' I held my wand tighter.

Remus taped the figure of the wolf with his wand. A narrow portion of the old wall raised and the boys stepped through. I managed to scurry under just in time, making sure to keep a reasonable distance between myself and the Marauders, just in case they unexpectedly turned back and bumped into me or something. The passage came out to a hidden cave by the forbidden forest. Remus and the others, instead of turning into the forest as I suspected they would have, walked toward the Womping Willow.

Remus turned around. "Okay guys, the coast is clear. Wormy, can you use your special talents?"

I saw the shimmer of the invisibility cloak coming off, but seeing Sirius, James, and Pete, I stumbled back in amazement as I saw a stag, a giant black dog, and a rat. I remembered what Lily had said. The nicknames. Padfoot, Wormtail, Moony, and Prongs. A dog, a rat, a stag, and Remus. That was it! Pete, James, and Sirius were illegal amimungi. But what was Remus? Did Moony mean he was just crazy, or too spaced out to form an amimungi?

The rat (alas, Peter) ran under the wild branches of the Womping Willow. When it/he reached the trunk, he hit a knothole with his nose, and the tree froze. The Marauders then walked into a small hidden tunnel in the tree. I, of course, followed.

"It`s almost time." Remus groaned weekly. As we came to the end of the tunnel and into some house, I felt my disillusion charm wearing off. The windows of the house were boarded up from the inside, and scratch marks coated the walls. Peeking through the cracks in the boards covering the windows, I saw a darkened Hogsmeade below. This must be the shrieking shack.

Across the room, Remus shuddered. The great black dog and stag instantly came over to him, flanking either side. And then, Remus began to change.

He hunched over, glasses falling to the floor. I turned away as Remus let out an inhuman cry. The wails of agony continued for several minutes, and I could not bear to do anything but stand against the wall, squeezing my eyes shut tighter, and wondering if I should have just left this secret alone. When the howls finally ended, I managed to turn back, and knew instantly why he was Moony, and why they were here. Remus was a werewolf.

His teeth glittered menacingly, enhanced thusly thousand times from the gentile smile of my studious friend. Then, after taking a shuttering breath, the wolf who was no longer Remus` eyes focused right on me. The disillusion charm had broken, now that he had got my scent, no spell would really mask me now anyway. I could see his hunger, and he could see me. Remus would never hurt me, but this creature could eat me with no regret, until my friend was returned to his original form, and back to consciousness. So I did something I had never done before, unable to hold in the terror. I screamed bloody murder.

The animals that were Sirius, James, and Pete jumped; evidently, they were finally noticing me crouched against the back wall. Remus growled and leaped like a cat going in for the kill.

The great dog jumped in front of me without hesitation. The stag put its head down, its antlers were facing the werewolf like a shield, and even the rat was in a protective stance, ready to protect my stupid life with all its rodential might. I raised my wand, but had no intention of using it. Remus was still in there, and I didn`t want to hurt him, especially if he had to put up with wolfing out on a monthly basis.

Despite their efforts, the wolf was already one step ahead, having not been shocked by my scream. It grabbed my left arm in its giant maw, teeth clamping into my arm, and dragged me away from the amimungi protectors. In that jolting motion, my wand was flung free from my hand, tumbling uselessly to the floor. But this all paled in comparison to the horrible pain of Remus` teeth in my arm. I didn`t want to hurt him, but my arm was in his mouth and he was basically eating me at this point. The stag was trying to push the wolf away, but the teeth only dug in deeper. I fought against the claws, but they were much too strong for me.

Finally, James and Sirius managed to distract the wolf enough for him to open his mouth, leaving me free to pull out the bloody mangled thing that was -or used to be- my arm.

The Marauders (the ones who did not have bits of me in their teeth, anyway) pushed the wolf away, and I wanted to yell out, tell them it was too late, but I was choking and gasping for air, and now I couldn`t see strait. My eye lids fluttered as I felt myself violently thrash, and I tried to control the spasms, but it was all in vain. I squeezed my eyes shut, clutching tightly to the pulverized appendage. I must have found the air to scream, because there was noise in the air, and the boys all still had four legs.

After an eternity of acid-like pain shooting through every inch of my skin, I finally opened my eyes to see a human Peter and Sirius coming over and sitting next to where I was laying.

"Prongs brought Moony to a different part of the shack. What happened? Why is there so much blood?" Pete`s eyes were full of fear.

"She`s… she`s bit." Sirius was staring wide eyed at my arm, mangled and bloody moments ago, but now the skin was growing back quickly. In another minute, it would just be a scared arm covered in blood.

"W-w-why is it healing like that?"

Peter, always one to hang onto conversations and remember them forever, looked at Sirius with the hint of tears in his eyes. "Moony told me once that when a werewolf bites somebody, the spit mixes with the blood and turns them in to a… a one of them. Then the bite heals over into a faint scar. Otherwise, every new werewolf would be in St. Mundos. They might have said it in DADA too, but I wasn`t paying attention if they did."

Sirius paled. My spasms stopped abruptly. "Guys, am I..?"

"No. NO. NO! You are NOT! Don't! Moony wouldn't turn you in to a ..."

I knew Remus would never purposely bite me, but this wasn't Remus. This was a big, bad, wolf that saw me as a late night snack, and it might not have gotten a big one, but it had gotten the bite that mattered.

My gazed wandered out the window, to where the full, yellow, moon shone, and I knew what was going to happen a moment before it did.

"It`s all right, Mattie." Sirius saw me looking at the moon with wide eyes.

"No, and it won`t get better if you don't change back into your amimungi forms soon, because I think you guys know what happens to werewolves in the full moon light. It can't be cloudy forever." I shuddered again and Peter squealed and changed into a rat, but Sirius stayed next to me.

"Go! I don't want to hurt you! You saw what happened last time a werewolf saw a human while in wolf form!"

"Mattie…"

The last thing I remembered was a blinding light suddenly poured into the room as the moon came out from behind a cloud.

* * *

><p>The world was a hazy, wooden shack in the morning light. Fresh claw marks furnished the walls, and I wondered what monster could have been here. And then I realized: it had been me.<p>

"Remus? Sirius? Pete, James? Hello?"

I heard voices coming from down the stairs, and then thumping footsteps. A familiar blond head peaked around the corner. "Pete! What happened?"

Peter cautiously walked over to me. He was half smiling, half freaked out. "You turned into a werewolf, Mattie. When Moony came to, we told him what happened. He got really upset, couldn`t believe he`s given someone that curse, and ran off. Padfoot went to look with him, but James and I stayed back to make sure you were okay when you woke up."

James shuffled in, looking ragged and miserable.

"We should probably get you to the hospital wing."

"I`m sorry."

Peter looked at me with a sad look in his blue eyes. I knew from then on, nothing would ever be the same. The Marauder's secrets were jeopardized, suspension was imminent for at least one of us, Remus depressed, maybe even suicidal, and I was a werewolf. I knew guilt would forever haunt us from what had happened last night.

**A/N Okay, remember, this is an alternate chapter and does not connect to any of the other chapters. **


	8. Chapter 7: Had A Bad Day, Taking One

**Thanks for commenting, PurplePrincess77. You're my head cheerleader as always. **

**Chapter Seven:**

**Had A Bad Day, Taking One Down (Again!)**

_Hi Ricky, _I wrote,_ so, you`ll never guess who I saw today… and also, what I may or may not have stumbled upon…_

Melody, who had evidently gotten over her stomach pains and sleepiness, asked, "Hey, who did you see? You didn't mention you saw anyone!"

"Stop looking over my shoulder and go to bed."

"I can`t. Since you and Lily still insist on having the light on, I figured if you can`t beat `em, join `em."

Alice, who had come in right after Melody had climbed on my bed and started reading over my shoulder, came over and dragged Melody off my bed and over to where Mary and Lily were studying (Mary, evidently, had given up on sleep too).

"Thanks Al."

"Any time. Seriously, glad to do it." I had winced when she said 'Seriously'.

_You have to keep it a secret I told you how I met him though, I kind of sort of accidently went somewhere I wasn't supposed to, and promised not to tell anyone about the whole thing. But I trust you, and you`re related to him anyway, so it`s not that big a deal. Okay, you`ve probably guessed it by now, since you`re a clever little bugger, but I`ll tell you anyway; it was Fabian. Long story short, I may or may not have located a certain common room, and I`m supposed to meet up with him to study on Monday. Yeah, I know. I`m still a bit confused about how that happened. _

_Anyway, I hope you're feeling better. I was able to plan in the match yesterday, and we ended up pulverizing Slytherin 250-80, so I`d say things are going pretty well on the recovery end of things. Oh, I hope this owl doesn`t wake you up… Well, I suppose you mum can`t get too mad, it`s not a biting book after all.  
>Mattie<em>

Borrowing Skipper, Mary`s owl, I just hoped Ricky`s mum didn`t go through his mail…and also, that Skipper would go to the right house.

* * *

><p>After almost a week with no word from Ricky, I was beginning to worry someone had intercepted the owl. All through breakfast, I was constantly vigilant for that speck of brown descending from the sky.<p>

James and Lilly were bickering about something small yet somehow crucial (as per usual), while Mel and I drew up a box pool on how long it would last (I had four sickles on ten minutes). Pete, Frank, Remus, and Mary had all picked squares, but had chosen to play table football with a bit of a roll instead of attentively watch the clock with us. The only person missing from this equation (besides Alice, but she was speed-writing an essay by the Fountain) was sitting farther down the table, with a certain heartbroken (well, not any more) beater on his lap.

"I`m surprised that`s still going on. Usually he`s on to the next girl before a polyjuice potion could wear off." Melody noted, catching my gaze.

Shrugging helplessly, I conceded, "Well, that`s the problem, really. I was just another one in his lineup, maybe not even, and it`s over. There's nothing to be done about it."

What confused me was the gloating looks I kept catching flashed my way, as if he was purposely designing this situational torment. But of course, that was ridiculous. Why would he do that on purpose, or at all for that matter?

After the miserable breakfast, things didn`t get much lighter.

Alice barley made it into Charms on time, and was immensely flustered upon finally reaching her seat. Each of us had smuggled in some bits of breakfast for her, and ranging from bits of covertly-wrapped bacon to a small stack of waffles.

Flitwick, naturally, was oblivious. "Everyone pass up your essays now, that`s it."

Mary, in a suave attempt to get pumpkin juice to Alice all the way from the back row, levitated the glass up the aisle as Flitwick ducked into his office. Slowly but surely, the glass floated on up to the front. Unfortunately, just as it was about to pass me, Flitwick chose that moment to reappear, shocking Mary into a frantic scurry, in which she flicked her wand. Cold liquefied pumpkin guts splattered all over me, the remaining juices dribbling down on the essay along with the broken glass.

"Miss Bell, what is that on your face?"

Hoping desperately my face did not waver in color, I replied, keeping an even tone, "Pumpkin juice, Sir."

The charms professor was not amused.

"Do you have an affinity for disrespecting the rules that make this school great, Ms. Bell? Does disrupting the peace of others bring you a particular joy?

Oh Merlin, this was about more than just juice. He totally knew about me finding the Ravenclaw common room, I could sense it in the insecure bite of his voice.

"No, Sir. I was simply trying to he…"

"I didn`t ask for your assessment of the situation, I can see quite well what you were 'simply trying' to do. Fifty points from Gryffindor for bring in food, disrupting class, making a mess, and talking back to a teacher."

"It`s not her fault, professor." Mary said. "It was me."

She didn`t understand the scapegoat situation she was about to nobly step into. "Mare, don`t…"

"How very gallantly Gryffindor of you, Ms. McDonald, but I`m afraid you should probably sit back down unless you wish to join your friend in detention.

"Sir, that`s not fair! Alice missed breakfast, they were only trying to make sure she didn`t starve!" Mel piped in, unafraid of detention, as she`d served her fair share of them in our many years of messing around Hogwarts.

Lily was listing off all the health problems associated with skipping meals, and Alice tried to get her voice heard over the malnutrition mutterings. "I`m sorry, Professor Flitwick, I deserve a detention more than her, she`s just been ill and I am the reason everyone`s disrupting class anyway…"

"Come on, Filius. Cut her some slack." A particularly smug James called lazily from the last row.

"Yeah!"

The whole class began to jump in, and I was grinning like a madwoman. My friends were the best. The perks of being a Gryffindor, I suppose.

"ENOUGH! You will all settle down or I will take 100 points from Gryffindor. There is a certain standard for behavior in this classroom, and I will not stand for what little rules stand to be stepped all over by a cocky sixth year." Oh yeah, this was soo about the common room thing. I felt the smile drip off my face, and one by one, my friends and classmates fell silent. "Does anyone wish to join Ms. Bell in detention, or telling Professor Dumbledore exactly why they were thrown out of class?

Melody stood up defiantly, a twinkle of evil hidden in her eyes. Oh no. Defying teachers, bold statements, and ensuring justice were three of her favorite pastimes, and this would be a chance for a grand slam. No, no…

To the tune of "Camptown Races", she began to sing. "I`m not clever, I`m not bright, doo da, doo da, I don`t claim to have a brain, oh a no da day. But I do know this. But I do know this. Be nice to your stu-u-dents, or you`re just a prick."

Flitwick, all three feet of him red and steaming, pointed to the door, the universal sign for get out. Expecting this, Mel simply waltzed out, as if she had better things to do anyway, and this class was just holding her back. When Flitwick turned to me, apparently holding me responsible for starting all this, I bolted after her before he could dish out a worse punishment.

"I don`t care what you just said back there." I announced, catching up to a cheerful Mel. "You`re a bloody genius and you know it."

She shrugged, but my best-friend radar detected a smile under that modest façade.

My bad luck didn't end there, of course. That would have been too easy.

I got a P on the History of Magic test we were supposed to get back the day we played the prank on Binns, as Fabian had predicted. In Potions, Slughorn blamed me for purposely making my potion to turn him green when he tried it (even when the Ravenclaw across the room clearly put a mood jinx on him while he was drinking it. Vengeful nerds.). And through it all, there was Sirius and Vanessa, acting gaga for each other (Sirius was clearly over doing it though, with more finesse than usual).

But the last straw was at lunch.

We had almost made it through peacefully, though. I mean, besides the usual commotion when Alice started chucking ice cubes at James, but that was to be expected. It was only when _he_ shot me the look while Vanessa was feeding him a roll (piece by small irritating piece), that I finally snapped.

Broke.

Shattered.

Like a thesaurus through a wood chipper.

In a hazel, I abandoned my seat, not in control of my legs as I headed for the nearest door. Each step felt like a domino falling, and soon the wind picked up as I pushed through the exit and ran out of the school. The sky had been sunny earlier, but now, everything was so cold. Spring had recently breathed a new life into the grounds, but I didn`t care about all the new little blades of grass that were as crushed as me as I fled. Finally, I collapsed at the edge of the lake, under the archaic tree my roommates and I usually reclined around in the early summer.

"Mattie? Mattie? Are you okay?" A hand touched my shoulder, and one by one, a massive crowd began to surround me. Looking up, and I saw the worried faces of Lily, Mary, Alice, Melody, James, Emmeline, Remus, Marlene, and Pete.

"Tell him to stop it. Whatever game he`s playing." I looked to Lily. "You know what I mean. Tell the guys, and take them with you to tell him please I`m not going to do this." Lily and the boys nodded to me and set off.

"Thank you." I managed to croak after them.

"Matts, aren`t you going to get him back? Don't you have a plan?" Mary, Alice, and Melody looked gravely concerned. I couldn`t blame them. In the past six years, I`d always chosen to get even over being mad or sad, even going as far as to turn one of my ex-boyfriend`s brooms into licorice while he was in mid-air. There was always a plan, always a purpose.

Except now.

"No. But you can go transfigure him into a slimy reptile for me, Mare, and Alice, I wouldn`t mind if you and Frank just happened to see to it that he gets himself trapped in a broom closet for the next few hours."

"Gladly."

"On it." Alice winked.

It wasn't my best work by a long shot, but it was good enough to get the pair of them to walk back to the school, reassured that if I was okay to plot, then I was alright.

"Well Mats, I know you want to be left alone now, and you`ll probably give the rest of us a job in a second, but just to let you know, we`ve got your back. I know, if something like this were to ever happen to one of us, you would totally figure out a way to make it better. And you`ll think of something for this, too. After all, if you had a hand in getting Lily and James together, and nothing is more impossible than that. Besides, if you don`t want to deal with him, we will."

I smiled weakly. "Thanks, you`re the best. Em, Marlene, can you please go tell Fabian The Ravenclaw that I can`t study today? Thanks."

The pair stood, each gave me their own version of a you-know-where-to-find-me-if-you-need-me look, and started off back to the school.

Melody sighed, pulling me into a hug.

"I really hate people sometimes, especially boys. Bloody gits, all of them."

Nodding sadly, I fell back against the tree. "I just wish it was as easier."

"Nothing good comes easy, so at least you know that you`re on the right track. I guess we were both wrong, and Blacks never change, but at least there were some good moments while it lasted, and you`ll be a better person coming out of this."

It wasn`t Melody`s fault Sirius was and always would be a royal tease, and a serial dater to boot. After all, as I had said myself, he`d never messed with me before. About time, really.

"I`ll make excuses for you if you want to miss class for the rest of the day."

When I opened my eyes, she was gone.

I was alone on the inside as I was on the outside.

My friends could try, but I knew the only person that could truly fix this was me. Or Sirius, but that was a laughable matter at present time, and I probably wouldn't even accept his help anyway.

* * *

><p>"Alright Padfoot, we need to talk." James declared. Enough was enough.<p>

Sirius looked indolently up from a muggle motorcycle magazine as his mates marched into their dorm. "What`s up?"

"The jealousy thing has gone too far. Way too far."

Instead of showing any touch of concern, Sirius was smug. "Is it working?"

Remus raised an eyebrow. "Working? She ran out of the Great Hall during lunch and you`re still wondering if it`s working? Mate, Prongs is right. She`s not so much jealous as pissed, and for good reason. This whole thing is largely childish."

"Ah, what you forget is, 'Childish' is my middle name."

"Sirius Orion Black, you enormous tease, if you don`t stop behaving like the world`s worst twat, I`m going to hex you for both Mattie and Vanessa`s sake."

Sirius was stunned, looking around for the speaker, while James smiled fondly. Remus hadn`t open his mouth, and Peter held his breath, eyes wide.

It was about time someone put Sirius in his place, and James was thrilled it had been Lily. She was so cute when she was mad (and, for that matter, when she wasn`t mad).

"When I said 'Here, hide under the cloak,' I thought you would get that 'hide' meant 'sneak behind us and don't talk'." Remus, not that bothered by his failed attempt at sneaking in a covert operative, explained as Lily pulled off James` cloak.

"Sorry, forgot I was invisible."

"Quite alright, Lilykins." Peter assured her. "So anyway, Padfoot, you need to end this. Now."

"Let Vanessa down nicely." Lily added.

"So I shouldn`t tell her the only reason I was hanging around with her in the first place was to make a werewolf jealous?"

"What? Remus?" Lily was suddenly really confused. "I thought the whole madly in love thing was an act."

"No, Mattie."

"Mattie is not a werewolf!"

The Marauders froze, and all pivoted to Lily, jaws on the floor.

"What? But…Moony bit her!" Peter exclaimed.

Remus filched. "Shout it out to the whole tower, why don`t you?"

Lily ran her hand through her hair absentmindedly, in true James style, making him silently proud his influence was rubbing off. "No, no, no. When a werewolf bites someone, the saliva and the blood mix to transform the victim into a werewolf."

"So? I know that. What do you mean she`s not a werewolf?" Remus interrupted.

"Don`t cut me off. Dumbledore said that since your saliva didn`t get never bit through her sleeve and your spit didn`t manage to get through into her blood, Mattie is still human. Plus, they ran a couple tests while she was in St. Mungo's."

The four boys just stood there, dumbfounded. Eventually, Sirius managed to get out, "Why didn't you mention this earlier?!"

"I figured she already told you. So, anyway, stop being such a jerk to her. It`s obviously not working." And with that, James watched his beautiful girlfriend flounce off, firmly shutting the door behind herself.

* * *

><p>"Hey."<p>

My eyes jolted open.

Fabian and a brown haired Ravenclaw girl stared down at me, apparently having snuck down to the lake as I was here drowning in doubt and self-pity. Ravenclaw Girl dropped besides me, and I struggled to remember where I`d seen her before, besides the night of the last Quiddich match when she had been among the mob of blue and silver. The kind eyes locked behind glasses was thing that gave it away in the end; she was one of the Abbott twins. Her fraternal twin, Jacob, was in Hufflepuff.

"Your loud friend told me you`d be here." So Alice had told him about the whole ordeal. Great.

"I can`t study with you today. Can we reschedule?"

"Sure. Tomorrow then?" He sat on my other side, joining me and the Abbott twin under the tree. "By the way, this is Violet. Violet, meet Matilda, that Gryffindor who burst into our common room the other night."

"Mattie." I corrected.

Violet`s brown eyes had widened in interest, looking especially magnified by the glasses. "How did you get in? Sometimes even we can`t get those riddles! Did somebody help you?" She glanced at Fabian.

He held his hands up in a don`t-look-at-me gesture. I laughed. "No. I actually just got lost. The riddle was relatively easy anyway. I really didn't mean to break in to your common room. It`s incredibly cool, though."

"So what's this deal with Sirius Black? I heard he was being a real jerk to you."

This Violet chick didn`t waste time with pointless small talk, did she? Although Ravenclaws were sometimes a little pretentious, I found their directness to be their best quality…most of the time.

"Yeah. I was actually running away from him when I found your common room. Actually, I plan on attempting on ignoring him indefinitely, or at least until he stops being such an insolent little vermin."

It was odd telling a group of stranger this, but they seemed to understand, or at least were exceptionally good at faking it. Violet, who was looking at me very seriously (Wait, no, not him… I mean that. Um, what I meant to say was… earnestly. Yeah. Earnestly is much better than…) suggested, "You should write him a letter. Just… to say bye and tell him you don't ever want to speak to him, bother him, or have him speak or bother you again. Closure often helps people feel better, I`ve found."

"That`s a good idea. Thanks."

Fabian smiled. "Here`s another good idea. Let`s sneak down to Hogsmead. We`ve got a free period and nobody will notice we`re gone. We could just say that we were here. Nobody is here to know any different." Wow. I didn't think Fabian had it in him. Ravenclaws are not typically rule breakers. Although in the past few years, I`d found that house stereotypes were often untrue, the exceptions still never ceased to surprise me.

It was just what I needed, though. "Sure. I`m all for it."

"Let`s do it, then."

Violet linked her arm through mine and Fabian pulled me by my other arm until I was standing. As we made ourselves invisible, I caught the reflection of a smile, just before my image fully disappeared, in the Black Lake.


	9. Chapter 8: Is Never Enough For You?

**Chapter Eight:**

**Is Never Enough For You?**

Sirius had checked every bloody secret passage in Hogwarts, and there was still no sign of Mattie. All he`d gained from his efforts were cobwebs and dust in his lungs. She`d left the lake, where James and Lily had instructed that he`d find her, hadn`t gone to the pitch, and the Shrieking Shack, a long shot, was vacant.

After searching every square inch of the castle, even the library (Sirius had walked in by accident, having forgot why he never visited that room), he finally decided to go back to the common room, and wondered why he hadn`t just checked the map. Upon checking that, Sirius` suspicions were confirmed: Mattie wasn`t anywhere on the grounds.

"Okay, Lilykins. Where is she?"

Looking up from her book, Lily was as lost as Sirius had gotten in the library. "Who? Mattie? By the water."

"No she's not, or anywhere on the grounds for that matter. Is this a bloody joke?"

James, who was sitting with his arm around Lily, perked up. "Ask Mary and Mel. They'd know if she was doing something."

Over at Remus`s favorite window seat, the girls in question, along with Alice and Frank, were busy hanging Christmas baubles in the sleeping Marauder's hair.

"Where's Mattie?"

"Shhh! Not so loud. You'll make him wake up on my turn!" Alice whispered sharply as she hung a new ornament.

"Tell or I'll wake him up."

"Okay, okay. I don't know. She was by the lake last I saw." Melody strategically hung a bright red one in his long bangs, just so it would droop over his nose.

Maybe she was eaten by the giant squid, or worse, kidnapped by Slytherins! Sirius rushed out of the room and out into the hall. He was halfway to the dungeons when he heard a familiar laugh.

Turning, Sirius saw Mattie walking down the hall, beaming, and she wasn't alone. To her right was a slender girl with sparkling brown eyes, eating a bag of only blueberry Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, and on the other side, some freckled guy was laughing at something she`d said, and spewing food everywhere as he did. Each of them was carrying a large amount of shopping bags.

They hadn't seen him. Yet… Sirius pulled a tapestry up, tapping the bare wall with his wand, and ducked into the revealed passageway. Thankfully, the walls were thin enough to hear the passing conversation.

"… just love Honeydukes. It's the absolute best place. And that lady didn't even bat an eye when you asked for twenty bags of Ice Mice! We totally got all the supplies for a party and she didn't even stop us! All that`s left is to figure out what exactly the party is going to have to be thrown for." The girl with the glasses was saying.

"Does there need to be a reason to party?"

"Typical Gryffindor." There was a smirk in the voice of the guy, and Sirius clenched onto his wand tightly.

"Speaking of, we could probably hold the party in the Come-And-Go Room, and then people from other houses can come. I can get my friends from Gryffindor to help us set it up. It'll be awesome." Mattie's voice quavered a tiny bit, regained strength in the end. "By the way, thanks for everything, guys. I really needed that. You guys rock."

"No problem. We should skip and go to Hogsmeade more often! Well, if you need us, you obviously know where to find us." The boy said.

Sirius though they had passed, but thankfully stopped himself from exiting at the sound of Glasses Girl suddenly squealing excitedly. "Oooh! I know what we can have a party for! We can have a costume or masquerade party! That would be soo fun! What do you think, is Friday too soon?"

"Of course not, that`s a great idea Vi! I'll get the word out. You guys tell Ravenclaw and your friends from Hufflepuff, and I'll tell Gryffindor and my friends in Hufflepuff, okay? I don`t know if you know any decent Slytherins, but I suppose you can invite them to, I suppose. Should we have it start at seven pm.?"

"That's fine with me. We'll have an half-hour after dinner to get ready."

"Excellent, see you guys later."

"Bye Mattie!"

So that's her game. Skipping and scheming with Ravenclaws, how could she?

Sirius Black was never jealous, but Matilda Bell also never skipped school with and instrumented parties for Ravenclaws.

* * *

><p>"So there were two of them? And they said she knew where to find them?"<p>

"That's right." Sirius confirmed, and Lily felt her heart sink. He had come in five minutes ago, running, to the common room with tales of Mattie skipping school and going off grounds with Ravenclaws. Lily had promptly called a meeting in the Marauder's shared room, since Mattie would probably be suspicious if they`d held it in their own room.

Why hadn`t Mattie asked them if she wanted to go to Hogsmeade?

"Well, all I care about is that I get invited to that party." Alice leaned back in her chair casually as she spoke. "Ravenclaws are alright, I suppose."

"Yeah. It sounds pretty awesome."

"We should bring in a dragon and pretend it's someone in a dragon suit."

"Okay. Let's get serious here people." Lily huffed, not at once registering her error in word choice.

"YEAH! LET`S GET HIM!"

Peter, Melody, Remus, Mary, and Alice all tackled on top of Sirius in a giant pig pile, ignoring his muffled protests. Lily sighed, knowing a lost cause when she saw one.

"James? A little help here?"

Her boyfriend gave her a sheepishly apologetic look, and jumped on the pile.

Lily rolled her eyes. Getting this bunch back on topic wasn`t going to be easy.

* * *

><p>Okay. Time to solve this problem once and for all.<p>

After the excursion to Hogsmeade, my brain cleared up. My little planning genus elf had come back, and it had decided on using Violet`s approach to solving the Sirius problem.

_Dear Sirius, _I started, my hands steady.

_I am done._

_I can't keep playing this game._

_I don't know why you're doing this. I'm guessing you must have been mad at me for following you guys the other night, and knew I've really liked you for a while, so you decided to get revenge by taunting me and fooling me in to thinking that I meant something, anything to you more than just another girl you occasionally flirt with to mess with her head. There`s way to many of those out there, and I just can`t be one of them._

_Really, you`re not the only idiot around here. I`ve seen you pull this gag a thousand times; I was just too in over my head to think I was not any different._

_But don`t think for a second I`ll let you trick me again for a second._

_All bets are off, indefinitely._

_Goodbye. See you never._

_Mattie _

That should do it. Mary and the others were off somewhere, so I couldn't use her owl. Instead, I decided to just put it in an envelope with his name on it and slip it under his door.

I was right outside the door of the Marauder's room when I heard Lily's strong, commanding voice ringing out from behind the door, saying, "…and really guys, if you don't cut it out, we'll never find out what to do about Mattie!"

Excuse me?

"Nothing needs to be done about her. She's fine. Let her plan a party, it's not our business." Thank you, Melody.

"But why do you think she ran off? With Ravenclaws!"

I walked in. "Because I needed a break from certain things and people."

Dropping the envelope on the floor by Sirius' feet, I calmly turned to Melody, not even attempting to feign happiness. She would get the sentiment anyway. "Thanks for sticking by me."

She saluted me, trying to sire a smile.

I manage to nod before having to flee before they could see the moisture building up in my eyes.

* * *

><p>"Mattie? Mattie!? No, wait! Come back!" Sirius scooped up the parchment she`d left at his feet, and dashed after her, but in vain.<p>

When he reached the common room, she was gone.


	10. Chapter 9: Strangers Of The Night

**Chapter Nine:**

**Strangers Of The Night**

The air was dead, which was an accurate symbol for how I was feeling at the moment. I pulled my knees to me as I sat surrounded by towers of things I didn't usually have a particular have an affinity for, ironic due to the fact that they now sheltered me and kept the evil out.

Nobody would ever look for me here. He hates this place. I (usually) hate this place. This was the longest time I'd actually been in here for.

The library was growing on me, that`s for sure.

As long as that red haired snake didn't come in here looking for a book, I was safe.

The corner in which I was hidden in was very small; the space where I sat was only about a foot and a half wide. I couldn`t see anything but books and starry windows, neither of which had ever talked about me behind my back, so therefore were currently competing for Lily`s old spot as Friend.

Hours passed.

Eventually, I fell asleep in that room of paper dreams.

* * *

><p>Three days after the night Mattie hadn`t come back to their dorm room to sleep, Mary was still waiting for someone, anyone, to apologize. Since the incident in the Marauder's room, Mattie had been stony to almost everyone. With the exception of Mary and Mel, she spent most of her time away from Gryffindors, choosing instead to put all her energy and frustration into preparations for the party. She was still friendly around Melody, Peter, Remus, and Mary, but she was careful around Alice and James, due to their strong connections to Lily (and Sirius, but only in the case of James), and thoroughly avoided Lily and Sirius.<p>

Everyone she was talking to, however, she enlisted to help hang up the posters that littered every corridor and staircase. Each of the posters were swirling with orange and black, with shimmering gold writing that said:

_Strangers of the night, welcome!_

_This Friday night, everyone who reads this is invited to join us at 7`o clock for a truly ghostly party. It doesn't even matter if you are living. Ghosts are welcome. Teachers are not._

_Come one, come all, but here's the catch – just not as yourselves. Be someone else._

_That's right. This is a masquerade party. Anyone without a costume or mask on will be sent away._

_So, come in costume to the seventh floor corridor and pace three times while thinking of this party._

_We'll see you there-if you dare!_

The posters were, of course, charmed so teachers couldn't read them, or anyone who would seek to sabotage the festivity.

Hogwarts was constantly buzzing with the whispers of what was being called 'Party of the Shadows'. From the sounds of it, everyone from first year to seventh year was coming, at least according to the writing Mary had seen on the walls of the girl`s bathroom, where an uproar of gossip of the party had broken out.

"Hey May, did you hear that Nearly-Headless Nick might go to Party of the Shadows?" Remus asked her as they were walked down the charms hallway, on the way back to the common room.

"He is? I knew Peeves was going, but I didn't hear Nick was." She replied.

"Yeah, I heard him telling the Fat Lady about it. I don't think Mattie should have been so open to inviting ghosts though. Peeves is definitely going to wreck whatever decorations they`ve got planned."

"No, actually, he won't. Mattie personally invited the Bloody Baron if so he`ll help Peeves in line. Rumor has it the Gray Lady might be going with him."

"Ah, ghost gossip." Remus smiled. "How is Mattie? I`ve barely talked to her since, you know…"

"She`s been swamped with preparations, organizing food deliveries and such. Honestly," Mary conducted a quick sweep of the area to make sure no one was eavesdropping before lowering her voice to a whisper, "…it`s pretty clear she`s using this to give herself an excuse to avoid everyone. Kind of coincidental that Lily`s already sleeping by the time she slinks back into the room every."

"Wait…" They`d reached the door to the common room, but for some reason Remus hesitated, straying too far away from the Fat Lady to be heard say the password. "So I was wondering… doyouwannagotothepartywithme?"

Mary didn`t catch a single word of that. "Huh?"

"Do you want to go to Mattie`s party with me?" He said, more confident this time.

"Sure!" Remus` eyes lit up, and Mary tried not to laugh at the cartoonish look it gave him. "Troll`s blood."

* * *

><p>The excitement that had been building up for days kept on welling up inside Violet, making her so exited she could burst. It was as if she was a balloon, floating higher, higher, higher. The party was exactly 27 hours and 23 minutes away, not that she was counting. Well, she was. Everything was perfectly in place.<p>

22 minutes now…

* * *

><p>Fabian, Vi, and I had started something great. A conspiracy, maybe, but it was a great one.<p>

Friday morning, tension was running high. If the excitement had manifested itself into a hippogriff, even Hagrid wouldn`t be able to tame it.

Teachers must have been wondering what was happening, but no way was anyone telling them.

It was perfect. Everything was falling into place.

Soon enough, dinner came and ended in a flash. I skirted up to my room to get ready, and was met by every single female Gryffindor, who must have decided to do the same. I had to squirm and shove to get up to the room, finally slamming the door to my room, exhausted.

I took the delicate black dress out of the closet and slid it on as quickly as possible, making sure to snatch my shoes as well. For now, none of my roommates were back from dinner, but I don't think my luck will hold long. I used magic to do my hair, grabbed my mask, and the last of the decorations.

Showtime.

* * *

><p>"Oh no, Black. Go away! You can't go up there, that`ll would ruin her night. I just saw her, and she is the happiest she's been all week. Don't crush that. As her unofficial bodyguard, I demand you got to your dorm and stay there all night."<p>

Sirius's face fell, and Mel felt sorry for him, but not sorry enough to let him past and watch as he put another dagger in her best friend's heart. Or, worse, pulled the other one out, letting all the metaphorical blood spill out.

"I promise I won't ruin her night, I just want to talk! I've been sending her letters all week, but she just lights them on fire with her wand without reading them!"

Lily walked over, pushing through the crowd of Gryffindors.

"What's going on?"

Mel cast a withering glance at Sirius. "Black here wants me to help him get in to the girl's dorms so he can talk to Mattie, but I told him not on his life. He`s totally going to ruin Mattie's night."

Sirius started to object, but Lily cut him off. "Come on Sirius, just leave Mattie alone. Whenever you try and do something to fix this, it makes it worse, so let her be. If she meets someone tonight at this shadow party, please don't sabotage her. She didn't for you and your many girlfriends."

Even though Mattie was in denial about it, Melody knew Lily hadn`t meant to hurt her friend. If only Mattie could hear the protective force behind Lily`s words.

With a disheveled and melancholy demeanor, Sirius sauntered away.

As Lily watched him go, Melody studied her. She looked exhausted. They all did.

"You should come," suggested Mel finally. "You'd have fun. Everyone will be wearing masks. Mattie won't know who you are, and maybe you guys can make up."

Surprised, she grinned appreciatively. "Okay."

* * *

><p>Lily's words bounced around in Sirius` head.<p>

"_If she meets someone at the shadows party…"_

…And then, what Melody had said to her as he was leaving….

"_Everyone will be wearing masks. Mattie won't know who you are…"_

Then, as he was reaching for the doorknob, it hit him. Sirius knew how he could talk to Mattie without her friends stopping him.

He'd just have to become someone else.

A Black in a party of shadows? He was sure to fit right in.


	11. Chapter Ten: The Mystery Mask Guy

**Sorry this took so long! There is only going to be one or two more chapters, depending on the plot [EDIT: three actually, counting the epilogue]. Thank you again to BlueViolets87 (who is actually Hope-Dream-Read, but she had to change her name to hide from some mobsters who want her to edit stories for them now), the ever marvelous beta.**

**Chapter Ten:**

**The Mystery Mask Guy**

I paced down the hall, concentrating.

I needed a place for the Shadow`s Party.

It had to be big enough, and decorated to match the theme.

No teachers and ill-willed people should be able to find it or get in.

Finally, the third time past, I stopped at the door that had not been there only moments before. Upon opening it and stepping inside, I smiled. The room had really outdone itself this time.

The room looked like a gothic, haunted, ballroom. Shimmery black décor was hung elegantly everywhere, with tables were set up on the side for the snacks. There was tons of space for dancing and mingling, and, most astoundingly, the room had a balcony.

Amazing. That was a major enchantment if nobody was going to notice it from the outside grounds. What part of the castle was it popping out from, anyway?

I looked up and saw a huge spider web hanging from the ceiling. Written in it large, shimmery lettering was the word 'Welcome'.

Dropping the bag of decorations at the door (which pales in comparison anyway), I crossed the vast room, examining each detail carefully. At the refreshments table, I caught a face in the punch bowl that was eerily familiar, but I could have sworn I`d never seen before. After too long of a moment, I realized it was mine.

When Mel had heard about the party being a masquerade ball, she`d insisted on picking out what I was going to wear, insisting I`d be too recognizable on my own terms. She`d done a pretty good job despite my protests, although the black dress was a bit snug for my usual taste. There was a bit of fringe on the top half of the dress, creating an interesting effect when I moved my arms, like a waterfall of darkness. Mary had insisted I add the long pearl necklace, which she insisted added to the mascaraed effect, but I drew the line when she tried to get me to add a flower in my curls as well. Anyway, it was perfect for the occasion; nobody would think I was Mattie Bell, the tomboy who was always getting in trouble. Well, except the masks didn`t really obscure my identity, but that was a minor fault.

Just as I had started to add the fake cobwebs to the walls, Fabian and Violet came in, holding bags of food and streamers.

"Wow, Mattie, you really decorated well. This makes our streamers look pitiful!"

I laughed. "It was the room that did this, actually. I am but a bystander to the wonderfulness."

Giving up of the fake webs (because how could they compare to the one on the ceiling?), I set to helping Fabian set up the streamers while Violet put out the rest of the food. There wasn`t much food left to set up, so when she was done with that, Vi went about examining the intricately decorated room, just as I had.

The streamers on Fabian`s side started to fall, so I re-levitated them, then looked to see what had distracted him. Fabian had turned to watch as Violet twirled around the room in her dark green dress (something I hadn`t done, mind you).

"You guys should try this, it's really fun!"

Before I could comment on Lover Boy Ravenclaw`s infatuation, there was a loud noise at the door, as if all the excited first years had knocked at once.

Violet paused, and checked her watch. "It`s almost time! T-minus one minute!"

The other two put their masks on, and we peeked outside the door. A line had already formed, and it was pretty darn long.

Fabian flicked his wand and music blared from somewhere.

Let the party begin.

* * *

><p>"Hello, Sir Nickolas!"<p>

The ghost tipped his head, and smiled regally. "Am I late?"

"Not at all, it`s only just begun!" I replied, and he glided off into the center of the party, oblivious to the cloud of third years walking through him.

Mel gravitated to my side, passing over a drink in the process. "Where`s Mary? She`ll be disappointed you didn`t wear the flower."

"I haven`t a clue. Besides, she knew there was no way that was happening."

"There`s James and Lily…. and look at Peter!" She pointed over to the smallest Marauder, who was a crazy blur. Apparently, he could break dance. Who knew?

As I was scanning the crowd for Mary, I saw a masked stranger making his way through the crowd. I mean, I know everyone there was wearing masks, but with everyone else, you could pretty much tell who it was. This guy must have had some enchanted mask on or something that made it so you couldn`t exactly place who he was. The curiosity tugged at me. I loved a good challenge. By the end of the night, I was definitely going to know who lied beneath that mask.

"Mel, who`s that?" I pointed over at the Mystery Mask Guy. She stared at Mystery Mask for a minute, and said, "I don`t know. He looks really familiar… I just can`t exactly pinpoint where I`ve seen him before."

"I think he enchanted his mask so people can`t figure out who he is, so he`s semi-recognizable."

"That`s brilliant. I wish I`d done that."

"I know, ri-" I stopped short. "Look, there`s Mary!" Mary was over by the large windows, dancing with Remus Lupin. "Brilliant, somebody owes me…"

Oh, wait. All bets were off. Too bad, that would have been some quick quid.

"Oooh, I`m going to tell Alice if she knows what spell can do that enchanted mask thingy, want to come?" Melody asked, twiddling a strand of her red curled hair.

"Nah. I`m going to see where Violet and Fabian are, the Bloody Baron`s not here yet, and I`m worried Peeves will arrive before him."

Mel flounced off, her blue sparkly dress flowing with every step, and I wondered why she was more interested in the mask than the mysterious figure behind it. Alice`s dress was just a few shades darker than Melody`s hair, but unfortunately was nowhere near the two Ravenclaws I was searching for. Where had those two skipped off to?

The music turned slow, and I had to skirt past dancing couples that were as clumped together as licorice wands on a hot day. I couldn`t help but wonder where Sirius was. He probably snuck out and went to Hogsmeade, pouting, or in a broom closet, having found another girl to fool around with to pass the time. Where ever that scumbag was, he at least had the decency to not show up here.

I was so lost in my thoughts that I stopped registering where I was going, and ran right into some guy`s tuxedoed back.

"Sorry!" I said, and he turned around. Mystery Mask Guy! Up close, I could see he had strikingly familiar grey eyes and longish black hair. He was incredibly hot, that`s for sure, and even better, he wasn`t the lethal brand of handsome that you would get with a Marauder. Even up close, I still couldn`t place who he was, but I was betting on Slytherin or Ravenclaw, since he hadn`t apologized first.

"No, it`s fine. I`m sorry too."

"For what? I plowed into you, there`s no fault in being an innocent bystander." I joked.

"Oh, well you`re Mattie Bell, right? I Sirius Black told me to tell you he was sorry if I saw you here."

Maybe I had jump to a hasty conclusion with this guy. He might be able to pull of some pretty awesome spells, but if he associated with Sirius Black…

…Although if he had talked to Sirius, I might be able to get out of him whether that dog regretted his actions, if he was apologizing.

Vanessa and Bradley were standing behind me and Mr. Mystery Mask, and not even including them, there were still way too many people around who could overhear us. "Follow me." I pulled him out onto one of the balconies.

"Why would he say that? He`s been nothing but incredibly mean to me ever since he and Vanessa…"

"Black said me that there was nothing going on between them, he was just trying to make you jealous, but that twat never thought things would go as far as they did. Apparently, he was mostly just mad because when you got out of the hospital you told him to forget about when you guys kissed."

What? How did Mystery Mask know so much anyway? "Um…I never said that. I told him to forget about… something Remus did. So that`s why he`s been such a complete tosser….that`s still not a really good reason."

He smirked. "You see right through this guy, don`t you?"

"I wish. He`s been one of my best friends for years, and still I can never understand things like fooling around with every girl in Hogwarts like it`s nothing, or watches his little brother when he thinks nobody is paying attention, or why he`s never once looked at me like any of those other girls, yet kisses me out of the blue. Of course, all these little mysteries might be why I like him so much, since for some reason I always just seem to be attracted to danger. Naturally, the idiot`s blind when it counts, though." I rolled my eyes and laughed mirthlessly. "Clueless."

Mystery Mask laughed. When he laughed, something clicked and suddenly I knew exactly who Mystery Mask was. Maybe Sirius wasn't so clueless in comparison after all, if it took me that long to figure out who he was.

I felt my face starting to turn red. Had he really just tricked me into telling him what I thought about him?

"How do you know Sirius so well? Only the Marauders know that much about him."

Oh, I had him cornered on that one. "I`m…um…his partner in Herbology."

"Are you serious? Okay, points for the enchanted mask. Points for the trickery and getting me to talk to you, but really, partners in Herbology? Really? That`s just dumb. Nobody tells their life story to their Herbology partner."

"Ahhhh….well…but…"

I ripped off Sirius`s mask, not throwing it over the balcony for Melody`s sake only. "Stop lying and explain yourself, Black."

"Look, I really am sorry about what happened; it was all a giant misunderstanding. The whole thing with Vanessa… I`m so incredibly sorry. I`m not sorry I came here tonight, though." Sirius stared, unnervingly Sirius, strait into my eyes, looking at me clearly since I`d first taken off his mask. "I want to tell you, before you kick me out, or throw me off this balcony…that, after taking to James about this…I realized… you`re kind of my Lily."

What`s that supposed to mean? "Your…Lily? What are you talking about?"

"You know how Lily is James`, like, soul mate? Everyone can tell that what they have isn't the average stuff you see every day. That`s what I mean. This is…different."

"Are you just saying that? How do I know you try this line with every other girl? Sirius Black, have a soul mate? As if. You couldn`t settle if you tried."

"Wanna bet?"

I didn't say anything.

All bets were off.

But where was the fun in that?

I met his eyes.

"You`re on."

The day I got my first broom, I celebrated by pushing it to the limit and flying really high above my house, higher than anything for miles. I was so excited to have a broom of my own, but I forgot to pay attention to how high I was going. After a while, I realized I had to get down somehow, so I dove my broom downwards. I was so scared of going splat when the inevitable happened and I hit the ground, but it was also amazingly, terrifyingly, amazingly awesome (I did pull up at the last minute). Up until that night on the balcony, that was the best thing I`d ever experienced, and the only time I had ever felt all those things at once.

Kissing Sirius was like taking that dive again and again, only the fear dissolved the instant his lips touched mine.

Finally, after what seemed like ages, Sirius asked, "Do you want to go back inside and dance?"

"Sure," I managed to say, "You might want to put your enchanted mask back on, though. Everyone in there has instructions to kick you out."

He laughed, in that barking way that Lily had tried to make me connect to his amimungi just a short time ago. I could see what he meant, that maybe this gallantly reckless person and I were more than just another fleeting relationship, eventually doomed. But none of it mattered then, because either way, in that moment, we were in a world all our own.

"Wait," I said, and Sirius withdrew his hand from the door.

This time, I kissed him.


	12. Chapter 11: Four And 12 Years Later

**Chapter Eleven:**

**Four And-A-Half Years Later**

"Am I late?" Lily Potter asked, taking James` invisibility cloak off her and her son as she stepped inside and firmly closed the door behind her.

"No, actually, you`re right on time. We`re still waiting for Mel and Mary..." I tried not to think about what their absence might mean. Neither of them were _that_ big of targets right now…and yet… "Well, Alice and Violet are already here, and so are little Neville and Ernie!" I said, trying to fill the depressing void of our friend's absences.

Harry held his arms up, and I lifted him into a hug. "How`s the flying coming, pal? Have you gotten to the moon yet?"

I spun him around a couple times as he giggled, much to Lily`s apparent amusement, before finally setting him down.

In the living room, Violet and Alice were trying to talk about anything but current events. When we walked in, Ernie looked up curiously at Harry, while Neville just continued to play Exploding Snap.

Harry looked up shyly at his mother, who smiled and motioned for him to go join the two boys.

"So, any luck recently? I heard about Bristol, but James and I just aren't up to date on these things recently because we can barely leave the house. As it is, we have to wear the cloak every time we go out." Lily settled down next to Alice, resting her wand on the coffee table.

"Frank and I caught the Carrows last week and Dumbledore`s worried He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named is going to try something soon. Dumbledore…Dumbledore thinks He wants you and James, Lils."

"We heard. James is going crazy, cooped up in that house all the time…"

The mood turned grave, and the boys looked up at their mothers, wondering what was wrong. The four of us tried to smile (but it came out a bit weak) to reassure them everything was fine.

But as the kid went back to playing, our situation was anything but fine. Violet and Fabian hadn't seen Fabian`s brother Aiden in months, not since before March, when he and five other wizards were declared missing. Alice was facing death every day, hunting Death Eaters and trying to make it so Neville would never have to grow up in a world where you didn't know who to trust. Lily and James had to cloak themselves in secrecy just to get groceries, because of the constant fear that Voldemort was coming for them…

There was a knock at the door, and I leapt up and hurried out of the room, eager to restrain the pain. Opening the door a crack, two people that appeared to be my best friends were standing on my front step.

"We solemnly swear that we`re up to no good." The redhead declared in a hush, and I allowed them in, checking down the street to make sure the square was still clear. Once they were inside, I locked the door, even thought I knew locked doors would never keep out the evil.

"Mel, May, glad you could make it. I was beginning to get worried."

When the boys saw us walk in, there were cries of "Aunt Mary! Aunt Melody!" filling the air.

"I tried fake-wand thing like you told me last time! Daddy said he really appreciates you telling me these things!

"Can I wear your glasses?"

Mary adjusted her glasses on little Harry so they would stay on his nose. "You look just like your father." Harry beamed.

"How`s Katie?" Mary asked, as if she actually wanted me to go on about my niece for the next hour.

"I`ve been telling her stories about when her dad was little. That, and showing her the best ways to sneak snacks off the top shelves. Needless to say, I`m her favorite aunt." I said proudly.

"You`re her _only _aunt, Mattie." Lily reminded me.

I set out some caldron cakes on the coffee table, and Melody gasped. "Mattie! Why didn't you tell me!" my best friend squealed in delight as she hugged me. I knew she liked sweets, but…oh, that`s what she was gushing about…. "Congratulations! When did he ask?"

"What? Mattie, what happened?"

I held up my hand that Mel had just saw moments before. A twinkling, delicate silver engagement ring rested on one of my fingers.

The boys were very confused at the sudden collective gasp following the silence.

"When did he propose?"

"When`s the wedding?!"

"How could you not have said something earlier?!"

I was unable to hide my massive smile. "I`ve been meaning to tell you...by the way, would you guys like to be my bridesmaids?"

"Of course!"

"Are you bloody kidding? Absolutely!"

"Actually, Mel… I don't want you to be a bridesmaid."

"…What?"

"I was kinda thinking, there`s this maid of honor gig that you might be interested in instead…?"

I was answered by a rib-crushing hug.

"So when did he propose?" Alice asked.

I smiled and twisted the ring on my finger. Every time I thought about it, I couldn't help smiling.

"Well… Sirius and I were walking in the park…and you know how he has to hide from Death Eaters who are trying to get him to get to James? Well, recently he`s been meeting me in the park as a dog and I play Frisbee with him or something, because it's the only unsuspicious way I can talk to him, what with Death Eaters following anyone even slightly connected to the Order. I`m pretty sure Mulciber was following me yesterday at the muggle supermarket!"

"So, anyways, I was walking with Sirius in the park along one of the trails, when he takes off, like he`s seen a squirrel or something. Obviously, I couldn't yell at him to get a grip with muggles and Death Eaters around, so I had no choice but to follow him into the underbrush. I finally, after falling and tripping through the thick forest, found him in a clearing. He had transformed out of his amimungi, and was standing there, just staring at me with this weird look on his face."

Even Harry, Neville, and Ernie were sitting quietly on their mothers laps as I continued, "I asked him what was going on, but he didn't say anything. Then, an owl came down and dropped a note on the ground between me and Sirius. I started to pick it up, but another owl came down and dropped another note next to me. The next thing I know, it`s raining paper." I laughed.

"Sirius was smiling now, sheepishly. I managed to grab a falling paper out of the air. On it, someone had simply written, 'Will you marry me?' .I looked up, and there was an owl on my shoulder. And in its beak was this." I gestured to the ring on my finger.

"So.. You said yes?" Violet interjected.

"Shhh! She`s getting to that!" Melody whispered, impatient but good-naturedly.

I smiled. "I looked at him, and he raised an eyebrow. Naturally, I said no."

"Liar." Alice declared, some of her old spunk showing for the first time in a long time, despite the troubles outside the door.

"No, really. I just grabbed the ring and ran. I plan on pawning it off within the week, and retiring early." I said quickly, positive my face was as red as Lily`s hair. .

They laughed at the outrageous story that was blatantly untrue. "I think Remus is going to be the best man, I don`t know if Sirius has asked yet, though."

"He hadn`t got the chance, last heard." Lily supplied, obviously having known about the whole thing from James and Sirius. "I hope he does soon, though, Remus has been extremely down recently."

"Hasn't everyone?" Alice asked. She looked at her watch, and the mirth left her eyes. "I have to go. I promised Alastor …" trailing off, thoughts of tasks ahead had already prematurely taken her from us.

"I understand. It was nice seeing you and Neville. Will you be able to come to the wedding? It`s November 19th."

"I`ll be there. See to you later." Alice got up and everyone exchanged hugs before she took Neville by the hand, disapparating into the night.

After Alice was gone, people started to remember that they (unfortunately) had to go before the sun went down and the bad guys prowled or, rather, terrorized the streets. One by one, after all the caldron cakes had been consumed, they each walked out into the cold, cruel night.

Melody was the last to go. "So what colour are the bridesmaid dresses going to be? Pink?" She joked.

"You wish. I was thinking… maybe a silvery-grey."

"Are you going to invite Sirius`s parents?"

"He doesn't want to…he hasn't talked to them in years….and James` parents are gone, so they can`t stand in. I want him to send them an invite at least, but he`s dead against it. He says they`ll send Death Eaters to our wedding. And Regulus…"

Mel was quite, the sound of death ringing in our ears. Hugging me goodbye, I felt the sadness in her breath. "I`ll write you when I get home. I promise. I miss seeing you all the time."

"Me too, Mel. Me too."

She too left, and I was alone in my house. It was so good to see all my friends together and safe again.

Little did I know that it would be the last time I would ever see them all that way again.

For three weeks, everything was fine.


	13. Chapter 12: Hunting The Rat

**Chapter Twelve:**

**Hunting The Rat**

A ghost, a witch, and a zombie stood before me. I knew what they wanted.

"Here you go. Nice costume, sweetie." I said, dispensing candy into the muggle children`s bags.

"Thanks!" said the little witch.

Closing the front door, I heard a crash from the living room. Summoning my wand, I ran in, ready to fight.

The carpet in front of the fireplace was covered in soot. On the floor were a small shelf and the remains of an archaic lamp that one of my brothers had once given me. Naturally, underneath it all laid my currently slightly scruffy-looking best friend.

"What are you doing?" Hauling Melody out of the debris, I restrained my laughter when I saw the expression on her face. Pure terror, with a hint of insanity. Mel was breathing raggedly, like she had just run a long way. Had she finally gone mad?

"Lily….James…"She managed to gasp.

"What?!"

"He found them. They`re dead. Lily and James are dead. Someone betrayed them. They`re gone. And Harry…" I sat down on the couch, my head in my hands. Lily, compassionate Lily, dead? And James, days away from seeing his best friend get married, was gone too? No…No….And Harry too?

"Harry …. Harry survived. Something happened. He-who-shall-not-be-named tried to kill Harry too, but something happened and it killed Him instead. He`s gone!" Melody said, shouting the last part zealously.

"W-who betrayed them?" I asked shakily.

"That`s the thing. The only one who could have was the secret-keeper. I`m sorry Mattie. I couldn't believe Siriu-"

"No. It wasn't him. I know it wasn't. It couldn't have been. Come on," I said, getting up and pulling Melody from over to the fireplace. "We`re going to the Potter`s."

I took some floo powder from the jar on the mantle. "Why?" Melody asked.

"Because, that`s the first place Sirius will go when he hears James is dead." I pressed a handful of powder into her hand and said, "See you there?"

She nodded and I threw my handful of powder into the flames, which turned green. Stepping in, I shouted loud enough to wake people in India, "Godric's Hollow!"

The sitting room I landed in was cozy, and I felt bad for getting soot all over it, but I couldn`t stop to help clean up. "Hello Bathilda. I`m sorry about intruding, but Melody and I have to do something really important; I`ll explain later, maybe over tea someday, but I can't right now, sorry."

The old witch was just recovering from the shock of my appearance when Melody tumbled out of the flames. She never was very good at traveling through the floo network. "Hi Bathilda!"

"Is this about the Potters?" Bathilda asked as Mel and I opened the door and the cool breeze hit us. I froze.

"Yes." Melody said her voice barely above a whisper.

"Good luck. Be safe."

"Thanks." I said, my voice cracking, as I left. Melody saluted as she closed the door behind us. Under any other conditions, I would have laughed at my friend`s antics, but instead it just kept me from breaking down and crying.

We hurried down the street, probably looking like escaped mental patients, and finally halted in front of the Potter`s home, or what remained of it, anyway. The Fidelius Charm was broken. The once-quaint cottage was in shambles, and there was a large hole in a part of the roof.

"Whoa. Those are awesome decorations." A robot said to his vampire companion.

"I bet they have good candy." The vampire said as he opened the gate.

"Hold it!" Melody jumped in front of the vampire-wannabe. "We`re not finished decorating yet! We take this holiday very seriously. We did just come from putting the finishing touches on the haunted cemetery, if you want to check that out."

"Thanks, lady!" The robot yelled behind him as they took off for the cemetery.

I cast a charm on the house so muggles wouldn't be able to see it, and we tentatively opened the front door. Nothing Mel had told me could have prepared me for what I saw in the front hall.

James` body lay on the floor, his glasses askew. Sirius sat on the floor next to his dead best friend, head tilted down so his long hair covered his face. His shoulders were shaking.

I ran over and hugged him. He looked up at me. His eyes were red and wet.

"Where is Harry? Is he…?" Melody`s hushed voice broke through the silence.

Sirius swallowed. "Hagrid came to get him. Dumbledore is going to protect him. He has a plan, naturally."

"Of course."

"How…How`d He find them?" I asked.

Sirius looked up, his eyes hollow with loss. "It`s all my fault."

No. I refused to believe that.

"You would never betray James! You couldn't have done it on purpose… what happened?"

"Well….they made me their secret-keeper, but a few days ago I suggested they switch it to Peter. When I heard about….this…..I immediately went to Peter`s safe house. He`s gone."

Sirius swore, and I was ready to rip Pettigrew`s beady little eyes out of their sockets.

That was the first time since we were in school that Sirius hadn't used Peter`s nickname. "Did he…No…..Peter is…but… HOW COULD HE DO THAT!?" I punched the wall.

"Whoa…calm down, Mattie." Melody stopped me from swinging again.

"I`m going to kill him." Sirius said darkly, his tone eerily calm and quiet.

"Let`s go right now. We can find him, and avenge Lily and James` deaths. He`ll rot in Azkaban."

"No. I`m going to kill him. Alone."

"Then _you`ll_ be put in jail for murder." I said my voice rising, "You`re not doing this alone, Sirius Black. They were our friends too!" Shakily, I brushed the plaster from my fist before continuing. "We want him dead too!"

"Maybe…the Death Eaters might have gotten to him and forced him to tell." Melody said quietly.

"Everyone thought I was the secret-keeper, Mel. They had no reason to go for him."

Sirius picked up a toy broomstick from the floor. "Do you know where he might be?" I asked.

He closed his eyes. "London." Sirius said. "He`s probably hiding among all the muggles, the cowardly little rat."

"Probably near Diagon Ally too, to keep an ear to the ground for trouble." Melody said.

"Let`s split up. Mattie, you and Mel look in Diagon and Knockturn Alley and I`ll check the surrounding areas."

"We`re not splitting up!" I protested.

"We`ll be able to find him faster." Melody reminded me.

"Fine." I looked at Sirius. "Don`t do anything rash, alright? Be safe."

"I will. You too. See you guys later." He quickly kissed me before appariting off.

Liar. But there was no time to do anything else but nod as he disappeared.

* * *

><p>"What`s th-"<p>

"Shh, Mel, get back!" I whispered frantically as I flattened myself against the brick wall next to Borgin and Burkes. Bellatrix Lestrange was standing outside of one of the shops, torturing someone. "The boy beat him someho-AHHRGG!" "YOU LIE. NO CHILD COULD DEFEAT THE DARK LORD! TELL ME THE TRUTH!" She shrieked her voice as cold as the wind. "I don't know! That`s all I-"

"_Immobulus_!" I cried, stopping Bellatrix from giving her victim another dose of pain. The wizard scampered off as she freed herself.

Bellatrix cackled at the sight of us. "How`s my cousin? Word around town says he finally joined the right cause."

"He`d never become one of you." I said coldly.

"Protective, are we? Oh, yes, I forgot, you`re his little fiancé. You know, you didn`t invite his favorite cousin to your wedding. Maybe I`ll just have to crash the party!" She tried to get me with a Cruciatus Curse, but I dodged it.

"If you so much as-" Bellatrix cut me off by unexpectedly shooting a curse at me, and it narrowly missed my elbow.

I fired one back, but she was ready. She countered it and before I could react, she stunned me.

No…no…

"Crucio!"

I knew it was over, and her laughter taunted me as I fell, unable to move or defend myself, on the cold stone of Knockturn Alley. Pain shot all though my body, and I heard a horrible sound echoing off the tall buildings. I realized that it was coming from me.

"Leave her alone. She`s got a wedding in a few days." Melody said, surprising Bellatrix and making her lose her concentration by hexing her. I shakily got to my feet.

"I`ll kill you both, you stupid half-blood!"

Mel`s determination gave me strength, and I almost smiled as she said, "Not if I can do anything about it. Furthermore, I`m only stupid if not being afraid of you makes me stupid. Which I`m pretty sure it doesn't."

Bellatrix narrowed her eyes and pointed her wand at me, shouting, "Avada Kedavra!"

My wand lay on the ground, and I was defenseless as the green light burst from her wand. I shut my eyes, waiting for the end. I heard the sound of a body falling to the ground, but it wasn't mine.

I opened my eyes and saw my best friend lying still on the street, the fear and resolve from her last act of bravery still frozen on her face. Bellatrix cackled. Voices echoed in the alley behind me, and sneering, she apparited off with a pop as two wizards from the Ministry Of Magic rounded the corner.

I fell next to Mel. Her eyes stared off into a place I could not follow, and I knew she must have jumped in front of me and intersected the curse.

"What happened here?" one of the wizards said behind me in an official manner.

I closed my eyes to try to stop the tears, but it was too late. One fell on Melody`s cheek, cleaning the soot in its wake as I whispered, "Bellatrix Lestrange."

"I`m sorry." The second wizard said. I opened my eyes to see him conjuring a stretcher and levitating my friend onto it. "We have to take her to St. Mungo's for an autopsy. Procedure."

I didn't want to leave Melody, but I had to find Sirius and tell him…and see if he was okay. "I`ll be right back. Don`t move her yet." I ran off to The Leaky Cauldron, almost tripping over a cat, and through it to Muggle London.

The streets were not as busy as they usually were. There was about ten or so people walking down the street, due to the fact that it was pretty late, even though it was Halloween. I ran down the sidewalk, desperately looking for the Sirius or Peter.

"I TRUSTED YOU, SIRIUS! THEY TRUSTED YOU!" I heard the distinct cry of Peter Pettigrew come from somewhere to my left. I sprinted in the direction of the voices until, nearly out of breath, I found them.

Peter Pettigrew was not the same person now as the boy that was part of the greatest and most elite group of boys to ever walk the halls of Hogwarts. His hair, once short and golden-brown, was now stringy and was a scruffy off-blond. His wand hand twitched slightly as one of his ex-best friends advanced a step towards him. Sirius` back was to me, but I could tell from Peter`s expression that he certainly wasn't smiling. The two men stood about five feet from each other, Peter standing with one foot on top of the drainage vent and one foot on the side walk and Sirius standing in the middle of the road. Sirius had only known for a few hours, but from the look in Peter`s eyes, I could tell Peter had been dreading this inevitable encounter for at least a day.

How could he? The question hung in the air, and I knew Sirius was thinking it too.

"I never imagined it would be you. Honestly, for a while I thought it was Moony. I should have known you craved a higher power." Sirius`s voice was low, quiet enough that the few muggles around couldn't hear, but Peter and I could.

"Don`t do it, Si. You`ll only get yourself into a mess. The Ministry is coming; I just left them in Diagon Alley with Mel." My voice cracked as I said her name. "She`s dead. We ran into Bellatrix while looking for him and….she killed her. It`s my fault. She was aiming for me." My vision blurred a bit, and I walked up and took Sirius` hand. He squeezed my hand hard as he looked down for a moment before returning his unwavering gaze to Peter.

"How many deaths will you cause before the day is over!?" Sirius growled. "I won`t kill you, but mark my words, I will see to it that you will pay the price for what did to them! I 'solemnly swear'!" he spat out.

Peter hesitated, then shouted, "LILY AND JAMES, SIRIUS! HOW COULD YOU? I THOUGHT YOU WERE MY FRIEND! THEY THOUGHT YOU WERE THEIR FRIEND!"

His voice echoed down the street, and the muggles turned and stared.

"How could you just stand there and lie like that? After all you`ve done, at least have the decency to tell the truth! Are you really such a coward?" I gasped in disbelief. I felt Sirius simmering with fury, hate rolling off his skin like steam.

"YOU BETRAYED YOUR BEST MATE TO THE DARK LORD! EVEN YOU'RE GODSON! POOR LILY AND JAMES!" Sirius clenched his teeth and pulled out his wand. I tried to hold him back as Peter cried more accusations.

Suddenly, Peter whipped out his own wand. Seeing him turn to Sirius, I projected a shield charm around him just as Peter flicked his wand at the buildings behind him and did some dark spell causing the street to explode.

Debris flew everywhere. Sirius` hand lost mine, and I stumbled, wand out, looking in vain for the man who killed the Potters. Some bricks fell from the buildings above, and they pelted me and the others on the street as they fell. Several streaks of coloured light cut through the smoke. I got down, ducking from the spells and rubble flying through the air.

When the smoke cleared (literally), Sirius was the only person on the entire street standing. The muggles were either unconscious or dead, because they all lay unmoving. I was underneath a restaurant `s awning, which was ripped, singed, and thoroughly disheveled. Peter was gone.

"He`s insane. He blew himself up." I said in amazement.

"No." Sirius chuckled darkly. "He must have cut off his finger and made a break for it. Otherwise, how would this have been cut off so cleanly?" he knelt and inspected what was apparently the finger of Peter Pettigrew.

I walked unsteadily over. It was indeed too clean a cut to have been done by self-combustion. "Look. He was standing on a drainage vent. Do you think…?"

"…That he cut off his finger, transformed, and crawled into the sewer like the filthy rat he is? Definitely."

"We have to go after him!"

Sirius laughed, reminding me of his ghastly cousin. "We can't, don't you see? It was part of his plan all along. Betraying the Potters, leading me here, yelling all that so the muggles could hear and blowing up the street so he could get away, framing me…."

The laughter grew louder. He was hysterical. It was hard to distinguish between the sobs and his laughter anymore.

"We have to get out of here then! I`ll go back to the Ministry workers with Mel and you have to run! I`ll tell them the truth."

"There is no way they`ll believe you. Too many muggle witnesses. Save yourself, Mattie. Run while you can, go back to Diagon and forget about Wormtail. There`s no use trying to catch him now, not with the millions of rats in the sewers for him to hide with."

"I`m not leaving you! I love you!" I wiped some tears

"I know." He said kissing me, as we both held on to all we had left. Whispering, he added into my ear, "Which is why I have to do this."

Before I could pull away to react, he stunned, and then cast a dissolution charm on me.

If I could have, I would have been shouting at him. Pleading, cursing, or trying any con in the book that would have made him stop.

"Turns out he was much more smart than anyone ever gave him credit for," Sirius mumbled to himself, "Whoever though one day little Peter Pettigrew would outsmart Sirius Black? I certainly would have never taken those odds."

The madness continued, echoing off all the empty streets of the empty world.


	14. Epilogue Or Chapter 13, if you would pr

**Epilogue**

**(Or Chapter 13, if you would prefer.)**

I twisted the diamond ring that had been on my left hand for the last twelve years and smiled as I read the headline of the day`s _Daily Prophet_.

"BLACK STILL AT LARGE" covered the majority of the front page in large, bold, blaring letters. The letters seemed to be shouting louder than usual because they were at least a three times their normal size (if you were to read it at the volume the print insisted on, even a deaf person would hear it).

It figured that Sirius would be the first person ever to escape from Azkaban. If anyone could find a way out of that place, it was him. But why now? Why not years ago? If he knew how to get out, which he clearly did, then why didn't he until now, and what had made him want to escape?

I tried not to think about the last twelve years, which were by far the most terrible of my life. Unfortunately, there was no stopping the flood of memories that were rushing back like blood from a wound that would not heal. I thought of Melody`s funeral, Sirius` lack of a trial, Lily and James` funeral, and the attack on Alice and Frank. I remembered how Remus had avoided me at the Potter`s funeral and sent my letters back unopened, and how Mary had moved to Scotland three months after the end of the Great Wizarding War. I visit her every now and then, but it`s not the same. Violet and Fabian too were silent.

Glancing again at the newspaper, I decided to visit Melody and bring her the news. It was about time to bring her fresh flowers too, the others must be just starting to wilt again. I put my empty teacup in the sink, got dressed, grabbed the paper, and was on my way out the door to go to the florist`s down the road (my hand inches from the doorknob) when someone knocked loudly on the door.

I opened the door to find Kingsley Shacklebolt and John Dawlish standing on the front steps.

"Hello…" Trying to remain outwardly calm, I considered what would bring them here. Why would two of the best Aurors in the Ministry of Magic be at my house? I didn't remember breaking the law recently…

Shacklebolt looked at me from over his clipboard. "Good morning. Are you in fact Matilda Bell?"

"Yes I am. Is something wrong?"

"We have a few questions for you. This won`t take very long." Dawlish held up a poster with 'Have you seen this wizard?' inscribed on it in print similar to the morning`s _Prophet. _Underneath the words was a picture of Sirius, looking despicable as ever. "Are you familiar with this man, Sirius Black?"

"Yes." Did they want me to say anything else? I didn't feel like telling the Ministry a complete in-depth report about Sirius, so I left it at that. Sadly, it seemed from their expressions that they were apparently not satisfied and wanted some details. That`s to be expected from Aurors, I suppose.

"How exactly do you know him?"

"He was in Gryffindor in my year when we were at school." I said the absolute minimum and abridged version, not mentioning our friendship in the hopes they would just give up and leave. But no.

"Is it true that you were engaged to marry Black before he was arrested and sentenced to Azkaban?"

The short one was eyeing the ring on my hand, so I figured I`d throw them a bone. "Yeah, we`re engaged."

"And when was the last time you saw him?" Personal questions, much?

"About twelve years ago, before you shipped him off to Azkaban without a trial, when I went in to the Ministry to explain that I had witnessed Peter Pettigrew blow up the street and kill those Muggles and the Ministry claimed I was lying to protect Sirius. They allowed me five minutes to talk to him, out of pity." I looked to Dawlish. "You remember, right? You were one of his guards. Upgraded since, I see."

Dawlish ignored me and Shacklebolt continued. "Have you had any contact with him since? Letters? Have you seen him?"

"No. And before you ask, yes, I would swear that under the influence of Veritaserum." I felt my eyes watering, and I pretended to fix my hair as I quickly wiped the tears before they got any farther. The last thing I wanted was for them to see me crying.

"That won`t be necessary. Thank you for your time, and he does attempt to contact you, immediately contact us by owl. Anyone who contacts us with information on the whereabouts of Sirius Black will get a large amount of galleons that is still being determined and free ice cream for a year at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour."

"That`s nice, I`m lactose intolerant." I lied. What kind of government bribes people with ice cream?

"Oh…Have a nice day." Dawlish said before they apparited off.

I had to hold back from laughing at their comically hasty exit.

* * *

><p>At the graveyard, I propped up the newspaper next to Melody`s headstone. Somebody had recently come and laid some sunflowers next to the roses I had brought last time. I put the daisies that I had brought next to the sunflowers, making it so the flowers lined the headstone.<p>

I wonder who brought the sunflowers. I was the only one who visited Mel on a regular basis.

"I wish you were here. Everything`s changed. Every_one_`s changed. Violet`s a workaholic, Remus is angry, Alice is damaged, Mary`s melancholy, Sirius` gone, James and Lily`s son is famous, and Katie`s almost all grown up now. And I`m…" I didn't know how to finish that sentence, so I just let the silence eat up the sentiment before turning back home.

About five minutes after I got home, there was another knock on the door. This time, it was large, shaggy black dog with a rose (not so different from the I had recently placed on Melody`s grave) in its mouth.

I`m pretty sure my jaw hit the floor as I gasped and stepped back. I held back a scream of delight (I`m totally not the type) and opened the door wider to let him in before anyone who was watching the house could get a good look at him.

Locking the door in the event any more Ministry members came knocking, I didn`t even try to restrain my grin. With a pop, he transformed into a human, swooping me up in his arms and kissing me. "Merlin, I`ve missed you."

"Don`t you dare do that again."

Sirius was much thinner now and his scraggly hair was almost as long as mine. His eyes were much older now, and his face weathered, like he`d aged twenty years in prison instead of twelve. But the familiar juvenile spark was still there, slightly dimmed but still there. He was here, actually tangibly here, and that`s what counted.

"Don`t worry, soon it`ll be all over and I`ll never leave again."

"What do you mean, 'all over'? What are you going to do?! What made you escape now?" I demanded, my body turning rigid as fear coursed through me. I took a step back

Sirius pulled out a torn bit of newspaper from his pocket. It was a picture of a happy family in Egypt. "Wormtail`s at Hogwarts." He pointed to the youngest boy in the picture, who was way too tall and confident to be Peter.

"You`re mad! That`s just a boy!"

"No, no…" He pointed to something I had previously thought was a smudge in the picture. It was a rat. Not just any rat, though. A rat with a missing toe. Peter Pettigrew. I gasped.

"How are you going to find him?"

"The article said the boy he`s with is at Hogwarts. That`s also where Harry is."

"And you`re going to just going to waltz your public-enemy-number-one self into a school and kill a rat? You do know that the school is now surrounded by dementors who will suck out your soul without hesitation if you get anywhere near them?"

"I`ll go as a dog and use the tunnels to sneak into Hogwarts. When I kill him, I can use his body as proof that I'm innocent and my name will be cleared. Then James and Lily are finally avenged, Harry will be safe, and I`ll be free. When I'm free, we can finally get married."

He was going again. But I had waited twelve years, and there was a necessity to wait a little longer.

"Alright, but promise me you`ll be safe. Promise me you won`t let revenge destroy you. Promise you`ll come back."

"I promise. I`d unbreakable vow, if we had a third person here."

We hugged one last time before he said he had to go. As I closed the door behind him, I couldn't help but feel like I was never going to see him again. There was an old muggle saying, 'If you love something, set it free. If it comes back, it's yours. If it does not come back, it was never meant to be.' I had (unwillingly) let Sirius go, and he`d come back. Didn't that mean he wasn't supposed to leave again? I leaned against the back of the closed door and closed my eyes.

* * *

><p>A little over a year later, he showed up at my door again with a hippogriff.<p>

"Is THAT how you`ve been evading the ministry? By flying around on a hippogriff?"

"His name is Buckbeak. He`s on the run too. He`s a good friend."

That`s all Sirius said about his companion, and I decided not to get into the details of how exactly a wild animal could be wanted by the ministry.

In the week in November that he stayed at my house (he said that he had to leave incase the ministry stopped by again, because he didn't want me arrested as well), he only asked to use the fireplace on the night of the 22nd to talk to Harry. It was a little weird that he wanted to use it at one in the morning to talk to a kid who probably should have been sleeping or studying (knowing James, he had probably inherited the preference for mischief), but I agreed on condition that he got a haircut at the muggle barber shop down the road. He did get his hair cut, but only after days of protesting and trying to negotiate. In the end, he lost his hair in a bet, and it made him look much less like the wanted posters.

Right before he left, he asked me to marry him. We both agreed it would be worth it to no just settle for a quiet muggle wedding, and he wanted to make Harry his best man.

"The Order is slowly making me less of a priority, and once they`ve finally cleared my name, we`ll have the biggest wedding England has seen in years."

I tried not to think about how most of the original members of the wedding party were dead.

And then he left again. The last thing he said before he flew off on Buckbeak was "I`ll be back."

That was the last time I saw Sirius Black.

* * *

><p>I was never a member of the Order Of the Phoenix.<p>

During the first wizarding war, two of my older brothers were among the wizards in our society who approved of what You-Know-Who was doing and disproved of those who interfered. When they heard I was going to join the resistance, they immediately came over and Imperiused me into making an unbreakable vow that I would never join The Order. They meant well, claiming they didn't want me getting hurt when the resistance was crushed, and they said it was 'for my own good. Luckily, my third and oldest brother, Quince, upon hearing this made them unimperius me.

He couldn't, however, take back the vow.

When The Order became more active again, I was forced to continue on with my muggle job and continue on with my mundane life. I did get letters from Sirius telling me about how the Order was now operation out of 13 Grimmald Place every now and then, but since most of the stuff going on was confidential and he had to stay in his house, he didn't have much to say in his letters (although he did say that The Order was making preparations for us to finally get married in the summer, possibly somewhere in France, since the ministry didn`t seem to be letting up anytime soon). Due to the vow, I couldn`t go to Grimmald Place, but I canceled my subscription to The Daily Prophet though, because it was the only pro-Dumbledore thing I could do.

So I though, anyway, until the day when I wished I had a news source to tell me what was going on.

It was an abysmal day, the only one that could hold a candle to the day Mel and the Potters died.

It didn't crash and burn, however, until Remus Lupin showed up at the counter of Bethany`s Blooming Beauties (After over ten years of constantly buying flowers from Bethany`s, the muggle shop owner offered me a job. I took it, because a. I get discounts on flowers that I still buy weekly and b. I`m not really doing anything else with my life anymore, so I might as well) eleven minutes before my lunch break.

I almost didn't recognize him at first. It had, after all, been almost thirteen years since I had seen him, due to his stubbornness to hear from me why Sirius had gone after Peter and who exactly had betrayed the Potters and his ability to hold a grudge for a very long time. And, fine, MY ability to hold a grudge might have had something to do with why I hadn't seen him in the past few years even though he sent apology owls after Sirius told him what really took place the night He-who-must-not-be-named fell from power.

He walked up to the counter with this grave look on his face, not unlike the one he had when I had seen him last, at James and Lily`s funeral.

"Mattie, we need to talk."

"We are talking. What would you like?" I replied bluntly while arranging some flowers to avoid looking him in the eyes.

"I need to talk to you outside."

"I`m on the clock. Besides, you had your chance at the Potter`s and Melody`s funerals."

"It`s important."

"And so is my time, which is why you need to ether buy something or get out."

"Fine. I`ll take that funeral flower arrangement." He said, pointing to the one in my hands. He was obviously doing this to irritate me.

"Who`s the lucky corpse?"

"There is no corpse."

"Of course not. You`re just buying it because you want to try and make up for the fact that you should have listened to-"

"I`m sorry. I`m so, so sorry that I didn't listen to you, alright? But remember how you felt when I was mad at you and just wouldn't let you tell me what happened? Can you spare me for two minutes so I can tell you something without you making a scene? Please, Mattie."

"Fine." I stalked into the back room and told my boss, Nigel (Bethany`s brother), that I was taking my lunch break early.

Once we were outside the shop, I walked alongside a silent Remus.

"So… What was so bloody important you had to make me leave work for it?"

"I told Dumbledore HE should be the one to tell you, but he wouldn't listen."

"Tell me what?"

"I knew it would just make it worse."

"Just tell me already!"

He pursed his lips and took a shaky breath. "There was an attack last night, at the Ministry. The Death Eaters were trying to trick Harry Potter into helping them retrieve something from the Department of Mysteries. The Order arrived, and Dumbledore fought You-Know-Who…"

"Yeah, so?"

"Bellatri-"

"What did that b-"

"Stop cutting me off! I`m trying to tell you something extremely important!"

"Sorry,"

"So, Bellatrix was dueling Sirius-"

"I hope he killed her."

"Mattie!"

"Sorry, sorry, I know, no interrupting. This is the last time, I promise."

"… anyway, they were dueling when she shot him with something that made him trip backwards. He fell backwards into a veil in the Department of Mysteries. He`s gone. I`m sorry."

I squeezed my eyes shut and leaned against the wall. I saw kid who`d been attached to James` hip all his life, till death did them part. I pictured the boy I once knew, the one with the attention span that was much shorter than his hair. I saw the man with a tendency to drive his flying motorcycle on the roves of houses just to mess with people. Gone?

"He`s not gone. Gone means not here. That`s hopeless. He`s here, we just can't see him. Not like Nick, or Peeves. Like Lily and James. Do you really think they would leave their son all alone in this cold, lonely world?" I looked up at Remus, "I think I have to hold on to the hope that they wouldn't completely abandon those of us left behind, because otherwise…. Well, what else is there to hope for?"

He nodded. "I know what you mean."

After a long pause, I said "Thanks."

"For what?"

"Coming."

Several minutes ticked by with the only sound being the calls and squeals of the children at the playground across the street.

"How are you feeling?"

"Okay."

"Does 'Okay' mean not okay at all? 'Cause I`m okay too."

I tried to smile at Remus through my tears.

We stood there in silence for another eight minutes, until I remembered that I had a job. I took out my muggle mobile and called Bethany`s. I knew there was no way I could go back today.

After I hung up, I turned to Remus.

"I have missed hanging out with you."

He smiled. I saw a familiar sadness in his eyes. It was familiar, because I had it too.

We were the only ones left.

* * *

><p>"You okay, Bell?" Williamson yelled to me over the roar of the battle.<p>

"Yeah, I`m fine!" I stunned a Death Eater who was just about to kill a third year. As the Death Eater was hit, my head started throbbing and it felt like it was on fire from the inside out. I concentrated on the memory of being inducted as an Auror last year. This was my job. Technically, I wasn't _with_ the Order. But I had found a way to help.

"Get to Hogsmeade NOW!" I yelled, ushering the kid to safety.

"I want to help!" The young boy said, bravely. I looked at his coat. Gryffindor. Figures, they were the hardest to evacuate.

"This is not up for debate! Go!" I glared until the boy set off running in the direction of safety.

I turned back to the battle and was shocked to see none other than Mary McDonald battling her way through the crowd. "Mary! Mary!" I navigated over through the crowd blocking curses as I went.

"Mattie?" Her face lit up. "I`m sorry I left!" She called.

"Thanks for coming back."

He-who-shall-not—alright, Voldemort was battling three people at once, and so was Bellatrix. She was one of the reasons I decided to quit my old job at Bethany`s and become an Auror. So that I could end her reign of terror once and for all.

I was about to attack her and avenge Mel and Sirius, when Molly Weasley stepped up.

* * *

><p>After the battle, I walked away from Hogwarts and into the Forbidden Forest. I couldn't face those halls full of corpses. I couldn't see another one of my friends with that same vacant expression - Mary and Remus were in there, somewhere, among the dead. I didn't want this burden to bear alone. But who else was left?<p>

Nobody.

I was the last.

I passed the Womping Willow, fondly remembering when I stupidly thought not being noticed and not being a Marauder was the end of the world. What a fool that girl had been.

After several minutes of walking, I stumbled on a log and almost fell, when a small well-polished stone catching my eye among the leaves. I picked it up; amazed someone would lose such an interesting and ominously beautiful rock. It was shaped unnaturally, perfectly cut in a way that was defiantly wizard-made. It had a strange engraving in part of it. I remembered another black stone I`d heard stories about when I was really little… a Resurrection Stone. Could it be? How did it get here?

I turned it over three times.

A ghostly figure appeared, with long, shaggy hair and a young happiness in his eyes that I hadn`t seen in a long, long time. I put my hand out to touch him, but I couldn't, as if the veil he had fallen through still separated us.

"I told you I`d be back."

I held back tears. "You look so..."

"Transparent? Ghostly? Scary?"

"Happy."

He smiled.

"Everyone is there with you now, right? James, Lily, Mary, Remus, Mel… It must be just like the old days, huh?"

"Not exactly."

"… and if everyone`s there, why did you leave the party? You love parties. Why did you come when I used this? Why didn't someone else, if you were having so much fun?"

"I can`t leave just yet, I`m waiting for someone."

"Harry? Is he what`s keeping you here?

"No."

"Vi and Fabian? Because they`ve got kids, they can't just up and die just-"

"It`s not them, Mats. Do you really need me to give you a hint?"

"Well yeah, that would help." I put my hands on my hips stubbornly, forcing him to say it.

He smiled. "It`s you, Mattie. I love you, and I don't want to be separated like this. Will you come with me?"

"With you as in….." I left his meaning unspoken. "Can I?"

"Are you sure you want to?"

I nodded.

"How…?" My unfinished question hung in the air.

He had a very Sirius look in his eyes. "Matilda Rose Bell, do you trust me?"

"Yes, completely."

He held out his hand. I reached out, and took it. The second my hand touched his, the wood around me started to fade away as if fog was rolling in very fast, paling and paling until all around me, where there had been trees and rocks, all I could see was fog. I looked up into his eyes and smiled.

And I knew this was just the beginning.

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who has stuck with this story to the very end, you guys are the best!**

**If you liked The Black Files, there are several stories that go along this one, featuring many of the same characters. The full list is on my profile, but The Green and the Gold (about two sisters) overlaps with this one, and Harry To The Future largely features an alternate universe Mattie. If you`re looking for more of the Lily and James side of things, or Lily and Sirius, there`s also A Cliched Challenge and Heartless Affections.  
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